Partners & Funders

Growing Up Boulder Partners

This is a list includes partners, past and present, GUB has worked with since its inception in 2009. Some partnerships are ongoing, others are dormant, and occasionally, our newest partners are not yet on this list. (Click on partner names below to learn more about them.)

Boulder Valley School District:

City of Boulder:

University of Colorado:

Walk to Connect
I Have a Dream Foundation
Mackintosh Academy
Philanthropiece: Youth Global Leadership
Savory Spice Shop
Senator Dorothy Rupert
The Scrap Sisters
Thorne Nature Experience
Trestle Strategy
Blue Lotus Consulting and Evaluation
Boulder County Head Start
Boulder County Healthy Youth Alliance
Boulder Housing Partners
Boulder Journey School
Boulder Ramblers
Boulder Valley YMCA

Growing Up Boulder Funders

Boulder Arts Commission, City of Boulder
Boulder Valley School District
Campus Compact of the Mountain West
University of Colorado's Community Engagement, Design and Research (CEDaR)
City of Boulder Community Planning and Sustainability
City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
City of Boulder Parks and Recreation
City of Boulder Transportation
CU Engage
Cynda Collins Arsenault
Office of Diversity and Excellence, University of Colorado Boulder
Environmental Design Program, University of Colorado Boulder
Office for University Outreach, University of Colorado Boulder

Growing Up Boulder Founders

Debra Flanders Cushing

Debra Flanders Cushing is currently a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia, where she lectures on Landscape Architecture and also serves and the higher degree research coordinator for the School of Design. Previously, Dr. Cushing was an instructor at The University of Colorado where she was also a member of the Steering Committee for the Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement. During her time at The University of Colorado she received the Marinus Smith Staff/ Faculty Recognition Award from The University of Colorado Boulder Parents Association and also acquired over eighteen thousand dollars in class development and delivery grants. The research she is doing now primarily focuses on the participation of youth in community design and planning, park design, intergenerational community engagement, and design pedagogy. She has published some of her research on these topics in various journals, such as in Pedagogy and community engagement in environmental design courses and Developing cultural responsiveness in environmental design students through digital storytelling and photovoice.

David Driskell

David Driskell is now Portland's Sustainable Development Strategist. He previously was the Executive Director of Planning, Housing and Sustainability for the City of Boulder. Also, he is the former UNESCO Chair for “Growing Up in Cities.” Driskell is the author of Creating Better Cities with Children and Youth (UNESCO/Earthscan, 2002) and numerous articles; he has taught courses on community-based planning and action research; and David has directed child and youth action research initiatives in Bangalore, New York, and Nairobi.

Deirdre Pilch

Currently serving as the superintendent of Greeley-Evans School District 6, Deirdre Pilch represented Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) during the founding of Growing Up Boulder. In her role as BVSD deputy superintendent and assistant superintendent, Dr. Pilch served as a collaborator and champion of GUB's work in the schools. Dr. Pilch's career in education is marked by her leadership at the classroom, school, and district level.

Dorothy Rupert

The Honorable Dorothy Rupert, local leader and former Colorado State Senator, helped found Growing Up Boulder in 2009. Dorothy served 35 years as a public high school teacher and counselor, 14 more years in the Colorado House and Senate, and decades in the peace and women’s rights/human rights movements. She has consistently supported education, relentlessly and courageously tackled difficult legislative issues, and traveled the globe for peace. Dorothy embodies commitment, passion, vitality, caring, sincerity, never-give-up determination, and joy.She was among the 1000 women nominated by the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2005.

Louise Chawla

Louise Chawla is Professor Emerita in the Program in Environmental Design at the University of Colorado Boulder, former Co-Editor of the journal Children, Youth and Environments, and former International Coordinator of the Growing Up in Cities program of UNESCO. She currently serves as a Research Fellow with the Community Engagement, Design and Research Center in the Program in Environmental Design and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Children and Nature Network. She publishes widely on the subjects of child and youth participation in design and planning and the development of active care for the natural world.

Mara Mintzer

Mara Mintzer has been a coordinator of Growing Up Boulder since its inception in 2009, when she agreed to lead the project with no funding but with lots of enthusiasm. Seven years later (and with funding), she feels privileged work on such a fantastic project with so many talented colleagues. Throughout Mara's career, she has run programs for children and families, with a special emphasis on serving underrepresented communities. Mara has worked in the non-profit, for profit, government, and now higher-education sector. She is semi-fluent in French and Spanish, and loves to travel.

Willem van Vliet

Willem van Vliet—, currently Professor Emeritus in the Program in Environmental Design in the University of Colorado Boulder, is an urban sociologist with decades of experience in the fields of housing and children’s environments. He taught housing policy and environment and behavior research, established a doctoral program in Design and Planning and the Children, Youth and Environments Center, revived the Children, Youth and Environments journal and served as its lead editor for 13 years, and helped create the Growing Up in Denver and Growing Up Boulder programs to integrate child and youth voices into urban planning and design.

*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.