One of the most rewarding things about getting to know so many entrepreneurs is seeing first-hand how many of them are focused on so much more than just financial results. So many of the folks we connect with are focused on having a positive social impact on their community or the world at large. Check out some of these amazing folks below.

Kristin Popcheff | COO of WeldWerks Brewing

Since opening our doors in 2015, we knew there were three things that we were exceptionally passionate about: our people, our product and our community. Even though at that time, our people consisted of just a few friends willing to volunteer a couple hours out of their week and our product consisted of just four beers, tackling the question of “how can we give back to our community?” was always on our agenda. We started with Piloting Change, a program where we would partner with local nonprofit organizations to brew a beer on our pilot system and proceeds from that beer would then go back to the nonprofit. By 2016 our production facility had grown out of the use of a pilot system but we had built some great relationships which we continued to grow into partnerships through collaborative projects to both raise money and increase their brand awareness and reach with our patrons and beyond. By our third year we decided to take a risk on a long-time dream of ours—hosting a beer festival that would not only be a ball for us to organize but would also have a large scale impact on our community. Read more>>

Amy Miley | Licensed Acupuncturist, Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine. Chinese Medicine Practitioner.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture has been practiced consistently for thousands of years. It has survived wars, social unrest, famines, technological changes and has crossed borders. It is a complete system of medicine that is safe and effective. The ultimate goal of Chinese Medicine is to heal illness from the root, not just treat it symptomatically. It is my goal as a TCM practitioner to treat my patients rather than mask their disease and to fortify their health to prevent future illness. I take a proactive role in health, rather than a reactive one. My role is to address nutrition, lifestyle, emotions, and underlying weakness and teach my patients ways to maximize their own health so they don’t have to lean as heavily on reactive measures like costly pharmaceuticals. By teaching my community how to regain control over their health, they rely less on expensive healthcare interventions. This way of practicing medicine has many implications, especially in today’s world. The shift to preventative medicine is happening slowly but surely. Many insurance companies are encouraging their members to engage in healthier lifestyles and eat more consciously. Read more>>

Heather R. Younger | Keynote Speaker, Author, CEO & Founder

The vision I have for my consulting company, Employee Fanatix, is to transform the experience of work for employees, teams, and organizations. We’re on a mission to create better workplaces, stronger cultures, and enhanced employee experiences. At the same time, we’re helping leaders to gauge the personal power they possess to positively impact the people they work with, and empowering employees to advocate for themselves because that they realize their voices matter. Employees spend over 40 hours a week of their lives at work. They take any unhappiness, pressure, or stress back home with them and, in that way, works spill over into their personal lives. But if employees feel heard and appreciated for the work they do, and are given the environment they need to grow and flourish, and get to do work that feels fulfilling, they will take that positive impact home with them to their families and spouses and children. Read more>>

Will Kralovec | Social Impact Entrepreneur, Opportunity Developer, Philosopher

We are a new breed of company. A social impact enterprise. Which is most commonly defined as a for-profit company with a public good purpose. Social impact businesses are stablished to intentionally seek market-driven solutions to complex social or environmental challenges, thereby creating public value by means that are scalable, economically sustainable, long-lasting, and measurable. Our vision is ultimately to eliminate barriers to possibilities. We are seeking to do this by using real estate, space, and the built-environment to increase opportunity, community, and social equity — particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods. In know your immediate reaction, rarely do you hear the term real estate used in the same sentence as social equity! At least not favorably. But we are in fact doing something favorable — we’re looking at real estate through a new lens, and using it in new ways for a for-profit company. JJK Places.PBC is out to change the singular focus that most convention real estate transactions have, that being profit. Read more>>

Brett Matarazzo | Repurpose Mixed Media Artist & Community Arts Instigator

As an artists, I feel the role of creativity and specifically contemplative artwork is essential to any community. It allows for discourse around the issues and values of our time, and has always been a very important part of society. As I have said many times to the people that frequent my shows and events, I believe art must make you feel something, make you have visceral reaction, start a discourse, or make you think. If it does not, It’s not doing its job. We must start the conversations around the issues we have as a society, we can’t solve any problems without talking about them. So my artwork, and my shows are all about creating these community conversations, first as an establishing member of ZEEL art collective, a group of wonderful artists dedicated to social issues, and second, as I am passionately working to develop local business/artist collaborations to keep art in the center of Denver communities, as development and growth has seen art pushed out for finical reasons, and now the pandemic has seen art struggle to reach communities. Read more>>

Kendra Miguez | CEO & Founder

The Colorado Women’s Center helps the community by focusing on women’s self-esteem and female empowerment! We help women to become empowered through therapy and mental health, because we believe that once a woman learns to truly believe in herself, there is nothing that can stop her RISE. Read more>>

Davie Fuller | Medium & Trauma Coach

It’s no secret that our communities are struggling right now. With everything that’s happening, people are living in fear and operating from a frame of mind that isn’t conducive to cultivating strong community bonds. When we operate from a space of fear, or from core wounds and trauma, we lose sight of our inner knowing and our inner purpose. And that’s why my ability to help others feels more important now than ever. In my work as a Medium, I help individuals overcome mindsets of fear, heal from past trauma, and approach life from a perspective of humility and gratitude. When individuals start to do this, they realize their inner knowing and create deeper, more substantial connections with others. They also start pursuing more meaningful work and living out their purpose. These are the characteristics of a strong, healthy community and this is what I seek to provide to those that I sit with. Read more>>

Alejandro Lovera | CEO & Founder

When we started ManyBuild we did not have the construction community in mind. It was only after speaking with hundreds of contractors and understanding the underlying social issues in the construction industry that we developed the product as you see it today: a fair, transparent and equitable construction job marketplace. The construction industry as a whole has a huge technological gap between the project managers or owners of general contracting companies and the skilled trades or people actually performing the work. So far every construction technology tool that is being implemented only takes into consideration the needs of the project managers and therefor results in kind of a top-down implementation. With ManyBuild we have focussed on getting skilled labor and contractors to be able to use our technology first. Some of our key features are built-in translation tools so project information is displayed in both English and Spanish. Read more>>

Megan Boese | Brand and Website Designer

I specifically try to work with clients who are working to make a good impact on the world, whether it be a church spreading the Good News or a workout studio improving the physical lives of their customers. My hope is that through great brand design and appropriate marketing, these great organizations and entrepreneurs will get noticed and have their chance to make their community, and maybe even the world, a better place. Read more>>

Debbie Stratton | Graphic Designer, Owner of Design Dog Studio

Making a difference is my driving force. I have a passion for helping dogs who need good homes and this is the mission behind Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR). For the past 22 years, I’ve donated my design skills to make a difference. By designing fun materials, I help GRRR look professional, raise more money, raise awareness, and ultimately help dogs who need good homes. I design their print materials including newsletters, party invitations, and the awesome yearly calendar. In addition to graphic design, I have held leadership positions including Board Member, Event Coordinator, and Volunteer Coordinator. I am honored to have been named Volunteer of the Year and was given a Lifetime Membership Award. They call me the cheerleader because I try hard to keep other volunteers engaged and feeling appreciated. If I won the lottery, I’d donate all of my time to designing materials for dog rescue groups. Maybe I should start buying lotto tickets! In addition to volunteering, many of my paid clients are new business owners who might not have a huge budget for marketing, or might be intimidated by the process of having their logo and marketing materials designed. Read more>>

Mindy Lundy Kramer | Brand Marketing Manager & Brand Photographer

Being able to anticipate their needs, intuit their desires and anticipate any problems before they occurred was a necessary skill for that line of work, and I have benefited greatly this year from building that skill–as have my clients. I shifted my talents to work as a Brand Photographer and Brand Marketing Manager for Fancy Tiger Crafts, and began only a few months before quarantine began in Denver. When the city was getting shut down, we–like so many other businesses–were initially unsure of how best to respond to this unprecedented crisis. How to shift the business and continue to be able to pay the wages of our struggling staff, as well as meet the needs of our customers who were in just as much distress. Proactively, I started gathering information on how to make masks, began writing blogs, and reached out to new outlets and partners in the city. How could our store help? Shortly thereafter, the Governor of Colorado started a task force group for mask making called The Colorado Mask Project, in which our store became an essential resource. Read more>>

Mike Pach | Photographer and Radio Host

When I teach photography classes I am not only enhancing people’s lives by helping them learn new skills, I’m helping them learn how to use photography as a way to connect with nature, how to become more creative and how to improve their mental well-being through mindful practices. My overnight workshops to photograph the night sky create memorable experiences in places that not many people get to experience. I had an older man on one of my workshops from St. Louis who saw the Milky Way for the first time in his life while on one of my workshops. That experience is much more important than the photos he captured that night, and it’s something he’ll never forget. My night sky workshops in Westcliffe help to support efforts to educate people about the benefits of dark skies, and the workshops I do in El Paso County help raise money for Bear Creek and Fountain Creek nature centers. Read more>>

Andy Petek | Entrepreneurs & Startup Investor

Although I hate the phrase, I’m what people call a ‘serial entrepreneur.’ My focus changes with the wind and my team chases opportunities to make change as they present themselves. The common denominator is all of my companies service the small business community. Over the past 10 years, I’ve taken more risks than I could explain in 10 hours. I’ve seen very high highs and multiple rock bottoms. I’ll never stop chasing my dreams and when I discovered my core dream and calling is to help others realize theirs, it was full steam ahead. My marketing agency, KingMaker Protocol, does product and business development for craft food and beverage companies. I used to work in big beverage wholesale and later owned a small brewery. At the time I consulted with several other producers to subsidize my startup and that ended up becoming this agency that now helps dozens of businesses each year. Read more>>

Jess Bean | Muralist, Commission, and Fine Arts Artist

Art, especially when you get it straight from an artist is a memory. But the interesting part of art is; whether it depicts something sad and horrific or something joyous when it speaks to you it always brings you happiness. Read more>>

Michele Ariana | NLP Master Practitioner | Love & Relationship Breakthrough Coach

I started a business called MPOWER Your Life™ & I have a division called MPOWER Your LOVE Life™. It’s our mission to empower healthy loving relationships in the world, starting with SELF. We specifically help ambitious driven women align and attract love while loving themselves…and without losing themselves. When women are empowered mentally, emotionally, & physically in their relationships (including their relationship with themselves), they’re happier, healthier, & more fulfilled. Which positively impacts the men & children in their lives…. creating a domino effect. I believe there is an intelligent loving life force that runs through all of us, & when INTENTIONALLY directed, can create incredible relationships, wealth, health, & better results in ALL areas & for ALL involved. When people are creating their lives intentionally, they have more to give, gain, & share with others. When more people are leading empowered lives they regain control of their life experience, dream bigger, take inspired action, and create things that not only bring them joy but elevate and evolve the world as a whole. Read more>>

Chase Evered | Co-Founder/Co-Owner

School of Breaking is located in Aurora, Colorado and was established in 2012. We exist to educate, support and provide our community with resources to connect and learn about Breaking (Breakdance) and Hip Hop culture. Through Breaking, we exemplify and teach crucial life skills including discipline, imagination, originality, respect, and unconditional love. We witness daily how our impact is changing and impacting the individual lives of our students. Through our comprehensive Breaking and Hip Hop Programs, School of Breaking students are continually discovering what it means to express themselves. Read more>>

Rebecca Baum, Erin Gillespie, Rhonda Conn-Parent N/A | Art Instructors

“PPAC provides a supportive environment for people of all ages to create, share and grow as individuals and as a community.” – Rebecca “To make is our DNA. PPAC provides a fun, healthy, innovative, and relevant platform on which to practice, nurture and refine this essential component of being human and for loving life!” – Rhonda “PPAC provides a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for the Colorado art community. Local artists and art students of all ages gather here to take classes, learn new techniques and skills, meet friends and exchange creative ideas and resources. It is truly a rare and wonderful place!” – Erin. Read more>>

Taylor Nagelvoort | Woodworker

I really like to think that the work I create brings people together. I created my business based on the idea that people would gather and be able to use my products for years and years to come. The kitchen is extremely important to me. I grew up spending most of my time in my parents kitchen, my grandparents kitchen and now mine as well. Food is the love language within my family and it’s what brings everyone together. There’s nothing better than everyone talking over each other, laughing, telling stories and passing food around the table. I wanted to create products that people can share with others and gather around for the most loving moments. My work may not be changing the world but I hope it’s bringing everyone together. Read more>>

Maria Pro | Personal Trainer & Online Health & Nutrition Coach

I’m so proud to be in a business that helps people live healthier lives. Now more than ever we need to be focusing on our health and my services do just that. Through exercise and proper nutrition, I help others manage stress, build strength, boost their immune systems, and reduce their BMI and risk of chronic illnesses– all factors that lead to long, happy lives. Read more>>

Kevin Moore | Minister of Music – Former “Wanna Be”

The purpose of The Music Ministry is to be of service. The mission is to create a community of forward thinking artists that are journeying down the path of personal growth. The music and entertainment industries are well known for creating addictions that aren’t ever the intention of the entertainer. NO ONE wants to lose that spark of creative energy to drugs and alcohol, yet it has been glorified and glamorized for so many decades. Our intention is to have many conversations that will help people everywhere understand how to get involved with their own personal healing. The beginning of the dialogue. Read more>>

Nikki Milton | Branding Enthusiast, Content Marketer, & Author

When you are a small business owner, just about everything you do is marketing. However, marketing is a BIG. WIDE. WORLD of choices, and platforms, and methods. How in the world are small businesses supposed to know which path to follow? I see them. Trying to figure it all out on their own. Watching their peers and competitors. Hoping to uncover the ‘secret’… THE tip or trick that will finally propel them from where they are to where they want to be. And I’ve heard the horror stories. Hiring virtual assistants, or marketing experts, or coaches that just can’t seem to get these businesses over the line to success. Disappointing experiences that wasted both time and money. These experiences shape us. They convince us that blogging OR social media OR website design simply doesn’t work. The truth is… they all work fantastically for the right businesses with a clear mindset and vision and focus on the impact they want to make in the world. Read more>>

Just Emcee | Rapper, Beat Maker, Audio Engineer, Videographer, and Visual Artist.

I started WolffHouse Studio not only because I wanted to be a professional musician and videographer in my own right, but because it allowed me to focus on something I truly love. It gave me the opportunity to connect with other like-minded individuals, as well as help increase the number of people out here contributing to the art form that I love the most. When I was younger I had a few chances to connect with studios, performance spaces, and even radio and video production companies. To me those were always the coolest places. I want to contribute back to that community and inspire others who are yet to find media art and hip-hop culture. If my community is flourishing, my business has a better chance. So really, I just want to see Denver hip-hop thriving on a large scale. Read more>>

Emi Brady | Printmaker & Artist

My art and business is all about our relationship with nature. On a business level, I use my income to frequently give to environmental and indigenous non-profts. The ones I give to most frequently are Earthjustice (earthjustice.org), the Indigenous Environmental Network (www.ienearth.org), and the Denver local non profit Lakota Way Healing Center (www.lakotaway.org). My hope is that by giving to these causes, I can contribute in a more concrete way to healing the planet and giving back to the original caretakers of the land on which I live. More abstractly, I hope my work encourages reflection on our relationship with the planet. Through the research that goes into creating my images, I frequently uncover troubling information that causes an uncomfortable tension between my awe of this planet’s inhabitants and my continued contribution to their destruction through living a western lifestyle. At its best, my work shows the viewer the miracle of biodiversity and the healing power of the Earth while also revealing the impact we are having on the planet. Read more>>

Montana Horsfall | Brand Ambassador of Blackhat Distillery and Owner/Operator Craft Cocktail Inc.

As Brand Ambassador of Blackhat Distillery, long time bartender in Colorado Springs, and owner/operator of a small side company (Craft Cocktail Inc.), I like to think that the world is being changed one sip at a time. Spirits and cocktails are a part of defining a generation and a culture. Relationships often occur over conversations combined with spirits and cocktails. The passion is in creating these special moments. This is our time in history. These are our cocktails and spirits, just in “To Go” containers. 🙂 When an atmosphere is designed to bring a relaxed and interactive environment, it makes it easy to connect with other people over award winning spirits. In our busyness, it is rare to have an extraordinary guest experience. Expertise combined with a little entertainment is what keeps guests coming back time and time again. A pandemic doesn’t change this reality. It has only changed the way we stay connected. Cocktails and spirits are still a part of us. Read more>>

Catherine Gregory | Co-Founder + CEO, Modern Wisdom Press

Modern Wisdom Press is dedicated to raising consciousness on the planet by empowering visionary leaders, coaches, healers and other conscious entrepreneurs to find clarity and ease in writing and publishing their transformational nonfiction books. Read more>>

Ron Zito | Artist

I don’t know if my business, which is creating art, helps the community or the world. If they provide joy to individual collectors then they may help the community or the world. Read more>>

Shannon Weiss- Kahn | Ayurvedic Postpartum Caregiver, Energy Healer, Baby and Me Yoga Instructor, Birth Doula and Twin Mama

My business- I really like to think of it as my path to enlightenment and along the way I get the honor of helping other women and their families integrate into their new lives as a family. I love gifting mamas; Ayurveda, Reiki, massage and nourishing food! I want to leave a legacy for my children to be proud of. Read more>>