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.

Bryan Le | Co-Founder, Creative Director, and Puzzle Enthusiast

When we started Goodfit, we wanted to focus on highlighting three areas: culture, causes, and connections. Art is how a culture expresses itself. It is a manifestation of feelings and energy captured in one experience. When we started doing jigsaw puzzles during the pandemic, we couldn’t find any that reflected our culture today. To us, a jigsaw puzzle isn’t just a way to disconnect – it’s a medium for artists to express. We’re happy to work with aspiring artists to provide a new platform for their expressions. Our art is hand-selected to promote body positivity, diversity and inclusion, and imagination. Every artist chooses a cause to support. Goodfit gives back 10% of every puzzle to the organization that’s been selected. To date, in partnership with our artists, we support four different causes. Every Mother Counts, TalkNaija, Damayan Garden Project, and Girls Who Code. Read more>>

Suzanna Miller | Holistic Ayurvedic Doula | Spiritual Intuitive

My business helps communities thrive by focusing on deep support, nurturance and guidance for families to experience healthier, more satisfying experiences during preconception, pregnancy, childbirth, and the transition after, honoring the woman, and her partner, as leaders in raising the next generation. By supporting families from the very beginning I am changing the world and tending to the dysfunction and disharmony within our culture in regards to nurturing new life, especially towards Mothers who carry the power of creation in their womb. I have witnessed how our cultural influences affect women, especially during pregnancy, childbirth and early postpartum. We have forgotten how to truly honor the motherline; personal, ancestral, and cosmic. Everything is birthed from the mother’s womb. If the mother’s perception of reality is filled with coldness, disconnection, despair, and separation it will be reflected in our world. Read more>>

Quinn Jacobson | Bladesmith & Artist (Photography)

I’m a veteran of the U.S. Army and part of my goal with bladesmithing is to help other veterans find something meaningful and productive. Making blades and working with steel is a great physical and mental experience. Read more>>

Christine Yocum | Founder, Proud Mama & AC, Chief Smart Cookie, Brand Master

The heartbeat behind the business has always been about much more than just a product. We’ve seen how a cookie-gifting experience reaches far beyond tastebuds and tummies. When the COVID pandemic hit last spring, businesses were closing left and right. There were a lot of unknowns about the future, lock downs were in place, and front-line workers began putting their health on the line for the sake of the community. We reached out on social media for the community to nominate local, front-line heroes they wanted to recognize. We were overwhelmed by some of the nominations: a dermatology institute still taking in skin cancer patients; someone’s mother who takes care of special-needs patients and recently had brain surgery; the night staff at the children’s hospital as well as the postal service employees, to name a few. We started baking chocolate chip cookies for free and delivering them to these local heroes who were making the world go ‘round. Read more>>

Sandy Lamb | CEO and EQ Expert

I believe in a world where all leaders model emotionally intelligent behavior to transform the way their teams collaborate and grow, both personally and professionally. Through my speaking engagements, assessments, and 1:1 executive coaching, I connect with women, in male dominated industries, to gain confidence in their God-given ability to inspire and influence others by their authentic leadership style. We often work through areas of their own personal emotional intelligence to allow for them to demonstrate greater self-regulation and social awareness which in turn makes for a more open-minded corporate culture and world. When we work on flexing our EQ and resilience muscles, we learn to maintain high levels of effectiveness and well being in the midst of challenge and disruption. Read more>>

Jake | Margaret Stechmeyer | Hotovec | Founders of Native Coffee Club

The wonderful thing about Native Coffee Club is that we get to support our community and our world by working with roasters of integrity who understand the impact that their decisions make. Our coffee roasters are people and cause-driven. They research and seek out sustainable coffee growing practices and small farmers to support. They champion women and the best environmental production chain. We, in turn, get to support these fellow Coloradans by promoting and offering free drink cards to their stores and encouraging our members to support their neighbors when out for a cup of coffee. Read more>>

Chelsea Von Kaenel | Family Photojournalist, Filmmaker and Postpartum Doula

I believe documenting families, especially new parents in the postpartum phase of life, is so important because honest photos help people see themselves in ways they normally wouldn’t. It’s not often that we have images that reflect our real, unposed, unscripted lives back to us. And the postpartum period is HARD! It’s hard for parents to see themselves doing the hard work, when they’re in it. The photos I create help show parents that yes, it’s hard. But they’re doing it! And the photos are the proof. Photos of honest family life are also a really wonderful way for people to process their stories, especially photos of a time in their lives that is particularly challenging, or special, or both, like the postpartum period. Holding space for people to be themselves and feel their feelings, while documenting their lives is something I’m passionate about, and I know it’s deeply impactful to the families I photograph. Read more>>

Riss Cottrill | Coach, Astrologer, Author

I feel very strongly about developing emotional intelligence individually, and as a community. My work encourages people to build self-awareness, so they can show up better for themselves and others. I work one-on-one with clients, helping them to move through blockages that prevent them from living a meaningful life. I do this through the lens of astrology and shadow work, while drawing upon the wisdom of the cycles and seasons for symbolism. I also have a product line where I offer ritual tools (mainly astrology based) to help people on their journey to self-development. Read more>>

Isaac Domingue | General Manager, Tracks Nightclub & EXDO Event Center

Tracks has been the home for people of all backgrounds, orientations, creeds, and influences, for over 40 years. A place where all people can be themselves. It’s been a safe place for individuals to meet others in their most vulnerable times; when they learn who they are, and in many cases, when their own families turn them away. As we continue to be a safe place, we also support non-profits in Denver and the growth and success of our neighborhood. It’s been an honor to work with Andy Feinstein, second generation owner, as he’s instilled the importance of solid business practices, community engagement, and the importance of finding your passion and aligning it with the work we do here. We do more than produce events and bring people together. We do what we do well, because we’re consistently reminded that our creativity and drive for growth should always be a guiding factor in the programming and caliber of work that we do. Read more>>

Sanja Ganja | Talk Show Host | Marketing Director & Cannabis Educator

My show is one complete MISSION, set in a series of videos to plant seeds of knowledge of cannabis and this thing we call Life. I want to impact human morality by discussing thought provoking topics while H I G H. Issues within the world, nature and humanity can all find some form of a solution through Cannabis. We are all connected to cannabis and that is what the show is about. We journey through topics that range from conspiracies, politics, logic, social trends, realism, cannabis facts and true stories, in hopes to open all minds to endless possibilities to have an ever changing perspective. The goal is to make headway on changing the world, without LABELS and without discrimination. Sanja LAND is a safe zone for all to enjoy cannabis and discuss LIFE. The show is highly involved in various communities, helping the homeless each year and local churches monthly. Like we say on the Show, “Remember to eat your veggies, be a good person, medicate, meditate, and Pray! Stay H I G H America.” Read more>>

Matthew Shakir | Transformational Coach

Right now, more than ever, humanity at large is craving support. Inside a pandemic, we are all being faced at looking at our problems, past trauma, insecurities, and fears as if it were being projected onto a megascreen at an outdoor movie theater. We are having to look at our relationships, our jobs, our career trajectory, our friendships, and everything else in between inside ourselves alone. This is causing severe issues with depression, anxiety, suicide, domestic violence, you name it. It is all rising in the multi-hundred percentiles. What does this mean? It means coaching is so incredibly necessary right now. Especially because it is oftentimes that people are hesitant of seeing a therapist (especially men.) People automatically assume “Is there something wrong with me?” The issue is that people would rather stay stuck then go see a therapist. Coaching, on the other hand, is more inviting and helps people not only look at what they want to change, but gives them the support to get there. Read more>>

Hope Stafford | REALTOR®

When I was switching from personal training to real estate, I had a dilemma. As a personal trainer I felt that I was really making a difference in peoples lives with in their health, both physically and mentally. Real estate had always appealed to me because I love helping people and I love houses, but need to find that same feeling of doing something to make a difference. What I have realized in my 5+ years is that, not only is financial health important too, but that I can also use my position to benefit the communities in other ways. Owning a home provides people with a huge sense of accomplishment, as well as more stability in their lives.. I have used my brand, Hope Helps Group, to run events feeding the homeless, to helping clean and paint youth community centers, to bring coffee to teachers in my neighborhood, and many other charitable events. Real estate give me the freedom and the means to service my community in ways I could not do before. Read more>>

Mary Allard | Co-Host of The Third Place Podcast

The Third Place podcast began just after the pandemic hit… At first, it was all about creating a digital third place. Traditionally, a “third place” is somewhere is not your work or your home, but a third place to convene and connect. During the pandemic, of course, physical third places became inaccessible and this created a void in our ability to connect and connect intentionally. Survival mode was full bore and platforms like Zoom and FaceTime came to the rescue. While these platforms gave us the opportunity to stay connected, it stopped there. Division among us got greater and the loneliness epidemic grew ten-fold. So, we started The Third Place podcast. We are on a mission to not only provide a third place to you, wherever you are, one that is safe and inviting, but also to inspire a third place within ourselves and others. We call this the messy middle, the grey space… A place that moves away from a dualistic perspective and into approaches that live on a spectrum. Read more>>

Audrey Brazeel Brazeel | Author and Nonprofit Consultant

My book is about my adventures as a Nanny in Denver and throughout the country. While I searched for my way in the world, it’s also apparent me how much privilege I had as a white nanny with a college education. The purpose of my book is to use my stories to shed light on our continued need for affordable and accessible childcare as well as raising awareness about domestic workers rights. It’s only right for the proceeds of my book to go to help domestic workers and so I donate at least 25% of all of my profits to the national domestic workers alliance, an organization that advocates for domestic workers in the United States who are primarily immigrant women and women of color. Read more>>

Psyche Cassandra Dunkhase | Cellist and Artist-Teacher

Music education is extraordinarily important for our children, giving them countless essential life skills that are carried into adulthood and woven into the fabric of our society. Children in music lessons are known to have increased spatial intelligence, pattern recognition abilities, and hand-eye coordination. They learn how to work together, break daunting tasks into smaller, more manageable parts, and communicate effectively. The study of music builds imagination, fosters empathy and develops creative thinking, while giving children a way to process, explore and express their emotions and environment. And perhaps most importantly, in the words of Clark Hodge, my dear friend and founder of the 501(c)3 Chase the Music, “Music has infinite power to create infinite joy.” By providing music education to children in my community, both local and global, I have the honor and opportunity to help build a generation of kind, compassionate, and innovative individuals with the desire, drive and tools to make the world the better place. Read more>>