In the fall of 2012, Joel and his family enrolled their daughters in their neighborhood elementary school and began to learn about the great things happening at Lumberg and the opportunity to connect the community to the school. As Joel supported collaborative efforts to support the area schools, he realized the need to start Edgewater Collective as a vehicle for connecting the Edgewater community to its schools so they could thrive. Edgewater Collective launched in March 2013 with a program to connect community volunteers to read with elementary kids called Reading Buddies. Saint Tank, which provided seed funding to business ideas pitched by Jefferson High School students, also launched that year.

It soon became apparent that the most strategic mission for Edgewater Collective was focusing on a cradle to career collective impact model to see change in local schools. From 2014-2019, this project known as the Jefferson Success Pathway brought partners together around shared goals and data-driven efforts. The project saw an increased graduation rate at Jefferson Junior/Senior High School and increased investments in the area schools.

As the pandemic closed schools in March 2020, Edgewater Collective acted quickly with the community to connect resources with those who needed it most. Volunteers delivered meals prepared by local restaurants to families, seniors and front line workers through Mutual Meals. Lunch & Learn provided free summer lunch meals and literacy supporting during the summer of 2020. Pathway Pods brought free after school academic and enrichment programs to a local park and online during the 2020-2021 school year. Building on the success of Jeffco Public Schools’ JSEL summer learning program, Edgewater Collective launched a six week summer learning program for late elementary students called Jefferson Success Academy.

The pandemic has magnified education and economic gaps between White neighbors and our Latino neighbors who have been historically marginalized. We are driven to reimagine and redesign these systems with our community so all our neighbors can thrive. Our Family Council and Renter Council provide spaces to advocate with our community for change. Our Incubadora Colletiva program will build community wealth through incubating worker cooperatives. Jefferson Success Academy and college/career pathway supports for Jefferson seniors will ensure that more of our students are ready for college or career. We are also actively exploring systemic innovations to our local education systems so that those closest to students have more decision-making power. Now is the time to act if we want all our neighbors to thrive.