Colorado Gives Day!

Support Growing Up Boulder (GUB) as we participate for the first time in Colorado Gives Day!

Every dollar you give helps underserved children and youth, ages 6 months to 18 years, have a voice in shaping civic projects and making positive change. Using a child-friendly city lens, Growing Up Boulder aims to make Boulder a more equitable and sustainable community for all.  GUB’s model also inspires other communities, as evidenced by the weekly emails we receive from children, city planners, and teachers around the globe (Iraq, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Chile, and more)!

​We need your help to keep our efforts moving! Between now and Colorado Gives Day on December 7, 2021, we are looking to raise $15,000. For every tax-deductible donation you give, an anonymous foundation will match your gift, dollar-for-dollar!​

Your support can make a tremendous difference in the lives of underserved children and help make a more just and sustainable community for all!

School Travel Study

All over Boulder County, young people and their families walk, bike, drive, ride the bus, and use all kinds of creative transportation options to get everywhere they need to go. GUB steering committee member and consultant Darcy Kitching wants to know how you navigate your everyday trips to school, work and beyond. Darcy, a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado Denver, is conducting a research study with the Boulder County Youth Transportation Program to learn what youth and caregivers need and want from our local transportation systems while testing new data-collection methods that may help the people who plan and construct streets, paths, trails, and transit networks to understand families better.

Reimagining Policing
Boulder Police Department Master Plan Report

We are pleased to share Growing Up Boulder and partner, MAYAMOTION HEALING’s, “Reimagining Policing” report--the result of months of engaging diverse young people, ages 8-24, in imagining how public safety can look in Boulder, CO.

Growing Up Boulder's annual report is here!

Our Mission

To empower young people with
opportunities for inclusion, influence, and deliberation
​on local issues which affect their lives.
“Growing Up Boulder’s expertise and impact on child participation in urban planning continues
to inspire UNICEF USA. We are grateful to have their partnership in building a movement to
re-imagine cities fit for children and fit for all.”

                                  - Danielle Goldberg,
​                                Director of Advocacy and Engagement, ​Child-Friendly City Initiative (CFCI) Lead UNICEF USA

News & Updates


​#BoulderStrong

Read our latest program news HERE! 

Growing Up Boulder Receives Generous Gift from the Anchor Point Foundation

Two of our incredible program kids, helped create a 2-min video ask for a local foundation. Read a blog entry by Brad Feld, Anchor Point Foundation C-Founder, who loved this innovation fundraising submission. 

KGNU Radio Interview with a Program Alumni Advocating for Kids Voices 

Child- and Youth-Friendly Initiative Inspires Municipal Leaders, Educators, Community Advocates - on KGNU's "Public Affairs" (March 22nd, 2021). Listen HERE to hear from a local 6th grader who has been at the center Growing Up Boulder's movement since she was in preschool.

For Mother's Day:
Consider the Gift of A Child-Friendly City 

Local parent and community advocate, Claudia Hanson Thiem, reflects on the importance and powerful impact of child-friendly cities and makes a compelling call to action in support of all mothers and families.

COVID-19-Compatible Learning
Provided by the Great Outdoors 

Outdoor learning is an invaluable experience, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Growing Up Boulder is participating in initiatives from the local to national level that integrate youth and parent voice into  outdoor learning plans.  See how our most recent engagements have drawn the community's attention here.

Placemaking Pioneers

In 2019, Growing Up Boulder embarked upon a year-long process to co-create the
nation's first, printed, bilingual, child-friendly city map.

2021 Main Partners, Funders, & Collaborators 

Growing Up Boulder Resources

Click on the images below to learn more about GUB resources, including books, maps, and talks, created by GUB team members, past and present.
*Growing Up Boulder (GUB) is Boulder's child-friendly city initiative. A formal partnership between the City of Boulder, Boulder Valley School District, and the University of Colorado, GUB became a nonprofit in spring 2021 under the fiscal sponsorship of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (CNDC). Since 2009, GUB has worked with over 7,000 children and youth on more than 100 projects.

    Growing Up Boulder Newsletter
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