Aligning Philanthropic & Business Goals
Kit Baker Carr, Executive Director for Entryway Denver, speaks at a recent Housing Summit
When we can marry helping people philanthropically and helping people through our business goals it’s a win win proposition. Over the past few months AAMD has launched new partnerships with organizations that will help achieve our long game strategic goals of increasing the talent/ labor pool to the apartment industry… while changing people’s lives for the better.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT
I met Robin Wise, President & CEO of Junior Achievement (JA) Colorado just after she went on stage to receive the “2023 Leaders in Action Award” earlier this year. In just a few moments of talking with Robin I knew AAMD & JA had common ground for a mutually beneficial partnership.
JA is a non-profit that inspires and prepares young people for success - and has been doing
so for over 100 years. Their proven formula teaches financial literacy and career readiness to
tens of thousands of Colorado high schoolers. After Robin gave me a tour of their brand new
“Finance Park” facility in Greenwood Village, I immediately knew AAMD had something to
give - and something to gain -by showing young people that Apartment Living and Apartment Working could be a part of their future.
As one of 12 supporting partners of this cutting edge program, AAMD will help students
explore a mini-city, learning first-hand how to budget for housing, insurance, transportation,
investments and more. Harvard calls the JA Finance Park a best practice for teaching financial literacy where students become adults for the day in an immersive simulation. After years of searching for a meaningful way to reach high school students, AAMD now has a featured kiosk in JA’s Finance Park where students are exposed to the Apartment business and rental housing in general. Students learn from expert volunteers from a variety of industries, including AAMD members who can tell their story about a career in the Apartment business.
ENTRY WAY (FORMERLY SHUTTERS TO SHELTERS)
AAMD and several of our members have also partnered with Entryway, another 501 c3 organization. Entryway CEO David Wiliams recently visited Denver and met with AAMD Board members to explain how his organization provides life-changing solutions to situationally homeless people. Entryway helps transition individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness to economic self sufficiency by providing career training, full time employment and housing opportunities.
Entryway recently brought on Kit Baker- Carr as their new Executive Director for Denver. Kit was a special guest at AAMD’s most recent Housing Summit and Leadership Program, where he met with AAMD leaders to further advance Entryway. Kit explained that the Entryway program transitions people through skills and knowledge specifically needed for employment at apartment communities. Their online platform includes comprehensive assessments on eligibility, aptitudes and skill levels. Participants get customized training focused on the multifamily housing industry, along with training in technical skills, soft skills, and life skills.
While Entryway is brand new to Denver, AAMD President Jared Miller and many others have assured our commitment to making it successful in our market.
These two new partnerships partnerships align our philanthropic and business goals of being good corporate citizens. They help to identify additional solutions beyond our regular job of providing safe and affordable housing to over 800,000 Denver citizens and we're excited to see what the future holds!