ABOUT US
IMPACTING COMMUNITIES BY EMPOWERING PEOPLE
OUR MISSION
Strengthening and building community by equipping and empowering youth and their families with the skills and tools they need to succeed through economic development.
WHO WE SERVE
Those in Need
HOW AND WHERE WE SERVE
With Open Hearts
OUR HISTORY
For nearly 8 years, IEG, Inc. (IEG) has been serving one of the many disadvantaged communities in Colorado, the North East Park Hill community. Our North East Park Hill community has historically been ravaged by generational poverty, gang and youth violence, high violent crime rates, underperforming schools, disproportionate unemployment rates, drug and alcohol abuse, unaddressed mental health concerns, and pre-existing health conditions, which have only been further exacerbated by our COVID-19 reality.
IEG was formed in response to a significant increase in gang related killings in North East Park Hill and surrounding neighborhoods in 2014. At that time, IEG partnered with Reverend Leon Kelly, the City and County of Denver and the Department of Safety along with GRID to provide innovative gang intervention and prevention strategies to disrupt the cycles of violence that were plaguing our community. One of these innovative strategies was the employment of former gang leaders from the community who had demonstrated sustained life changes and were motivated to give back to their community as Gang Outreach Specialists. This strategy proved successful as the Gang Outreach Specialists are often able to use their relationships within the community to mitigate escalations and retaliations between groups and individuals in conflict. IEG views youth violence as a public health crisis and has continuously partnered with the City of Denver and GRID from the time of our formation through the present helping to prevent and intervene in gang and youth violence whenever, wherever, and however we can.
In 2017, IEG received 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit organization and through the vision of our Board Chair and then Executive Director, Haroun Cowans, we again partnered with the City of Denver and the Office of Economic Development to offer systems navigation, case management, and workforce assistance services to the people we serve. IEG has historically served individuals who have been identified as “hard to serve populations” including youth and adults of color who are involved with gangs and/or the criminal justice system, formerly incarcerated “returning citizens” looking for employment support and/or entrepreneurship opportunities, and youth of color who are disengaged or at risk of suspension and/or expulsion from school. Core to our work is the belief that individuals and communities labeled “high risk” are uniquely qualified to be high-powered leaders and entrepreneurs who break cycles of poverty, crime, and recidivism. IEG equips these “high risk” youth and adults with the skills, supports, and network they need to change the narrative, access economic opportunity, and become leaders for positive change in our community.
We are impacting communities by empowering people.
IEG has adopted the mission of “Strengthening and building community by equipping and empowering youth and their families with the skills and tools they need to succeed through economic development.” We believe that the best way to impact crime and violence in our community is to engage the individuals involved and empower them towards positive change by exposing them to alternative opportunities. Violence, crime, and even gang membership are often economically motivated and need economic solutions. IEG recognizes the opportunity to impact the economic needs of our community by empowering those who would otherwise be involved in crime and gang violence with education, employment, and entrepreneurship opportunities.
IEG strives towards the vision of Denver being a healthy, safe, and equitable community of opportunity for all. We work toward this vision by empowering individuals to access and create opportunities, both for themselves and for our community. Today, IEG continues and builds upon this history of community stewardship with a focus on supporting community-led economic empowerment. We encourage individuals to access, contribute to, and lead in the economic revitalization happening around them. IEG is committed to empowering youth and adults who face multiple barriers to success, including gang involvement or previous incarceration, towards success through education, employment, and/or entrepreneurship in an effort to disrupt cycles of violence and crime.
To achieve our mission and vision, IEG supports individual and community wellness through life coaching and therapeutic support, two-generation case management, social emotional skill building, and community engagement. IEG builds on the years of credible work in the community, and expands this work by integrating positive youth development into all aspects of what we do.
We presently continue a long standing partnership with the City of Denver and specifically with GRID, providing robust gang intervention and prevention services throughout North East Denver and surrounding areas by showing up to hot spots, responding to shootings, attending vigils and funerals, sponsoring community events in North East Park Hill, and supporting city wide collaborative efforts aimed at decreasing violence. Recognizing that successful diversion requires alternative paths to participation, IEG provides services to low-income youth and adults through three program areas:
1) Youth and gang violence prevention and intervention
2) Workforce/Career Development
3) Community Development/Engagement
IEG’s success is rooted in its insight and involvement in the community, as well as experienced management and strategic partnerships with community stakeholders. IEG utilizes its existing experience and credibility in bridging the divide between participants that face multiple barriers to employment and traditional social structures, and through the development of strong partnerships with private community focused employers, the program is proving remarkably successful in connecting men and women who are saddled with the stigma resulting from mass incarceration with viable economic opportunities.
In 2018, IEG piloted an Entrepreneurship Bootcamp which successfully empowered 3 individuals to launch new businesses in our community. In 2019, IEG embarked on the mission of promoting positive development to help individuals thrive through the use of our 3 E’s: Education, Employment, and Entrepreneurship. Our theory of change is this: if IEG helps individuals improve their personal health and well-being and build their personal capital through increased educational, employment, and entrepreneurial success, these individuals will contribute to improved community health, safety, and opportunity. This evolution in our services reflects IEG’s recognition of the prevalence of trauma in our community, and of the role underlying trauma plays in creating barriers to individual and community health.
In 2020, IEG partnered with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to pilot an innovative program aimed at disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. IEG has a demonstrated longstanding history of partnership with the City of Denver and looks forward to continuing this partnership into the future.
