Minds Matter Colorado

Bridging the gap between potential and opportunity, Minds Matter Colorado empowers high-achieving high school students from low-income families to thrive at the college of their choice, graduate with purpose, and launch fulfilling careers that enable upward economic mobility.

The Colorado Paradox refers to the surprising disconnect in Colorado between its highly educated population and the relatively low educational attainment of students who grow up in the state. While Colorado ranks among the top states in the percentage of adults with college degrees, much of that is due to people moving to the state after earning their degrees, not because of the strength of the local education pipeline. In fact, Colorado consistently ranks in the bottom half of states when it comes to high school graduation rates and college completion for students who were raised here, especially for low-income and first-generation students.

This is exactly where Minds Matter Colorado steps in. Our program exists to close this gap by ensuring that driven, determined students from low-income backgrounds in Colorado not only graduate high school but are also equipped to succeed in college. We believe Colorado’s future should be shaped not just by who moves here, but by the talent, ambition, and resilience of the young people growing up here. Minds Matter Colorado is helping to rewrite the narrative of the Colorado Paradox one student at a time.

Minds Matter Colorado has one focus, and our approach is pretty simple. We recruit accomplished students with undeniable potential to participate from their sophomore through senior years. We then pair them with a cadre of passionate, intelligent, dedicated volunteers who mentor and support the students for three years until graduation. 

Our program is an evidence- and best practices-based model that provides every student with

• three years of structured mentoring delivered by trained mentors and program leaders, 
• weekly development in skills critical to college success, such as writing and public speaking, 
• weekly career exploration, college readiness, and skills based curriculum, 
• participation in college prep summer programs at partner postsecondary institutions, 
• guaranteed acceptance into college through strategic higher education partnerships, and 
• Academic support through test prep and writing curriculum scholarship support. 

As a result, 100% of our graduates complete high school on time and are accepted to four-year colleges and universities with scholarships.