Colorado Dragon Boat Festival preview performance at Sculpture Park - Jonathan Phillips Photography


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DENVER COUNTY CULTURAL COUNCIL

The Denver County Cultural Council (DCCC) is the grant review council for Denver's Tier III Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) funds. Each year, the DCCC reviews grant applications and determines the allocations to each qualifying Tier III organization. Thirteen and one-half percent of Denver County's total SCFD tax funds are distributed annually to local arts, cultural and scientific nonprofit organizations in Denver.  
 

2023 Grant Season
 

ABOUT SCFD

SCFD is the only cultural funding model in the nation that serves a region of seven counties and it is the second-largest cultural funding mechanism in the United States. One penny on every $10 in sales and use tax collected goes to SCFD who then supports nearly 300 cultural organizations across our seven-county Denver metro region, distributing more than $60 million annually. Visit scfd.org for more information. 

SCFD tax dollars provide critical operational support for small, medium, and large organizations. Funding is given out annually to qualifying organizations across three tiers of distribution.

Tier I

The metro area’s largest cultural organizations – Denver Museum of Art, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and Denver Zoo – receive specific amounts determined by a funding formula set out in the SCFD statute.

Tier II

Regional organizations like the Arvada Center, Children’s Museum of Denver, and Butterfly Pavilion, qualify by reaching certain budget and attendance thresholds. They receive funding through a second formula laid out in statute.

Tier III

Counties that participate in the SCFD also make decisions about how the tax is spent. Each county receives a share of the tax collected. County Cultural Councils review applications and make recommendations for their county. Final approvals come from the board of county commissioners or city council and the SCFD Board.

DCCC MEMBERS

The DCCC consists of 11 voting members. Three are ex-officio, representing citywide organizations from DAV, Visit Denver and Denver Public Schools, and eight are community representatives selected from interested applicants. They each come with experience in arts, culture and/or history as professionals, volunteers, participants or in advocatory positions. Members commit 15 to 20 hours monthly during the annual grant review period (April - June).

Interested in Joining the DCCC?

We are often looking for new leaders to join as members term out. We strongly believe that the DCCC should reflect the racial, ethnic, social, demographic and geographic diversity and composition of the city. Open positions will be communicated here, through our social channels and newsletter.

DCCC Administration

TARIANA NAVAS-NIEVES
Director of Cultural Affairs, Denver Arts & Venues
tariana.navas@denvergov.org

DANA MANYOTHANE
Program Officer, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District
dana@scfd.org

Current Members

Amy Tancig-Andrle

Chair
Amy holds a graduate degree in nonprofit management and worked as an executive at cultural art organizations for more than a decade. During this time she gained experience and appreciation for organizational development, compliance and collaboration. In 2014, Amy transitioned into working full time with her husband operating L’Eagle Services, an all-natural and sustainable recreational dispensary and cultivation facility specializing in clean cannabis. Together they have positioned L’Eagle as the first--and currently only--cannabis dispensary to earn recognition as a Certified Green Business from the City and County of Denver Department of Environmental Health, and a national Clean Green certification for organic cultivation practices. 

Today, in addition to being a mother and running day-to-day operations for L’Eagle, Amy actively participates in outreach by contributing her time serving on the City of Denver’s Cannabis Sustainability Work Group, and as a founding board member of the Cannabis Certification Council. 

JOSÉ ROSALES

Vice Chair & DAV Appointee
Jose, ArtistiCO Co-Founder and Executive Director, is a trailblazing millennial community leader with a passion for the performing arts and cultural advocacy fueled by his entrepreneurial spirit. As a community collaborator he partners with Colorado’s most prominent cultural leaders and organizations to bring unique and multicultural programming to Denver’s diverse landscape. His professional expertise in the public and nonprofit sectors has transcended his many accomplishments as a business entrepreneur, dancer, dynamic project manager, nonprofit expert and producer. He is most proud of his dance career as one of the few American principal dancers in the world-renowned Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernandez where he toured North America, Latin America and Europe for five years. Jose was recently awarded the 2021 EY New Wave Leadership Award from Colorado Business Committee for the Arts. He was appointed to serve on the Executive Council of the Denver County Cultural Council of the SCFD. Jose earned his master’s degree in Development and Program Management from the University of Denver and his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder. 

ANA VARELA

Secretary
Ana is working as a community interpreter, advocating for the creation of Spanish language materials as a Language Coordinator, and as the Outreach coordinator for Historic Elyria. Ana has had a long career in intercultural connection and community activism. She received her secondary education through an arts & music academy and later earned degrees in International Studies with Latin American and Caribbean emphasis and Chinese studies. While living in South Texas during the border crisis, she worked professionally as a paralegal for migrant minors seeking asylum and coordinated cultural festivals for the community. In 2019, Ana relocated to Denver - this dynamic, multifaceted city that she is honored to serve.

Suzi Q. Smith

Executive Committee Member
Suzi is an award-winning artist, organizer, and educator who lives in Denver, Colorado. She has created, curated, coached, and taught in Denver for over 20 years, managing the largest poetry festivals that Denver has seen to date. The author of poetry collections Poems for the End of the World, A Gospel of Bones, and Thirteen Descansos, Suzi is also a singer-songwriter, playwright, and multi-disciplinary creative. Her single 'Moments', in collaboration with Psy'Aviah, received International attention after being a finalist in the BBC's 'Next Big Thing' contest and she co-wrote and is featured on Flobots’ 2017 single, "Sleeping Giant". She was also a member of Lady Wu-Tang Clan, sharing stages with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan. Suzi co-wrote the plays How I Got Over: Journeys in Verse, and Where We Are From: Freedom is a Constant Struggle. As an organizer, Suzi has worked with arts and cultural organizations for over 20 years, in Denver and around the U.S. Her commitment to intersectional racial justice, creating safe(r) spaces for all marginalized peoples, and creating communities of care as well as policies and practices for transformative justice and equity are all key initiatives. As an educator, she has worked extensively with youth, serving as a Teaching Artist with Youth On Record, and as a coach of Denver Minor Disturbance Youth Poetry Slam, resulting in two international championships. Currently, she is Affiliate Faculty with Regis University’s Mile High MFA, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, and DU’s Prison Arts Initiative.

Derek Medina

Derek believes the only help and hope for one another is in each other. Living his life with that belief, he has a compulsion to help the people who need it the most. He is often volunteering with organizations that provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness or aid to the terminally ill and their families. He is community oriented, and contributes his time and effort to local neighborhood organizations. He has been crucial in founding community activities like movies-in-the-park, establishing a non-profit organization for a neighborhood, securing a substantial grant to form an Active Living Coalition with paid employees, and of course art projects like a street mural and sound totem to enhance the city’s public spaces. That involvement has made him well-versed in our municipal laws, zoning codes, budgets, city council, public works, and many other primary factors that involves how our city is shaped, how people behave & interact with the built environment, and how it affects public health and happiness. He is known well in his neighborhood as a person with answers, or at least one that can find them. He is also pretty good at pinball. 

Earl Parsons

Visit Denver Appointee
Earl is a tourism, marketing and events professional with a unique combination of agency and in-house experience. His background spans across live events and entertainment having worked for Live Nation, The Agency Group, San Diego-based KAABOO Del Mar and the Denver-based creative agency Motive. In his current role as Cultural Tourism Programs Manager with VISIT DENVER, he serves as one of the department’s liaisons to Denver’s rich and diverse cultural community and manages VISIT DENVER’s three annual local branding programs: Denver Restaurant Week, Denver Beer Week and Denver Arts Week. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Media Studies from Auburn University. A southeastern native who spent his earlier years living in Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville, Earl has been in Denver since 2015 and enjoys all that the city and state of Colorado have to offer including hiking, camping, snowboarding, live music, performing arts, and Denver’s ever-growing food, beer and art scenes. 

Eric Golden

Denver Public Schools Appointee
Eric is an education administration professional with a unique combination of business experience and community engagement. In his role as Community Partner Program Manager for Denver Public Schools, Eric works with passionate youth professionals to bring quality out of school time activities to young people. He received his Bachelor's in Finance from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Eric is a Denver native and enjoys arts and culture. 

NEELIMA JOSHI

Neelima is an entrepreneur, community leader, curator, connector, and philanthropist. Neelima has worked in the finance sector for nearly 20 years, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising (both private and public), and financial advisory services. Neelima is on the Board of Ideas Worth Sharing, which is the governing board for TedxChicago. She has participated in the curation and fundraising for TedxChicago events, and is passionate about sharing ideas and knowledge. She also seeks to raise dyslexia awareness, as well as other learning differences, to provide education access to all students. Neelima is a Colorado native, and loves spending time with her two children, husband, and dog. She is a graduate of Colorado College and The University of Chicago.

STEPHANIE SYNER

Stephanie has worked in the government sector for over 15 years. Stephanie currently works for Denver Health in Government and Community Relations. She works to ensure our community has access to healthcare as we address the many health disparities within our communities of color. She served as the Senior Outreach Director for Congresswoman Diana DeGette for 6 years. In this role, Stephanie worked with constituents, organizations, and community leaders from every sector to build more connected, informed, and stronger communities.

Outside of the public sector, her professional career has included consulting and campaigning in diverse communities that are most vulnerable to political or legislative change.  Other areas of expertise include legislative relations, public policy, and policy analysis. 

Stephanie earned her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of South Florida and Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Denver. She has completed Latino Leadership Institute and Downtown Denver Leadership Academy. Stephanie proudly sits on the board of Stout Street Foundation. She is a proud mom of two boys. 

2023 Grant Season

Important Dates, Meetings & Discretionary Fund Information

2023 SCFD Grant

Multi County Grant Application Deadline: now closed 
Denver County Grant Application Deadline: now closed 

2023 Discretionary Grant

Grant application due: Monday, November 6, 2023, 4 p.m. 
Final report due from previous grant: Monday, November 6, 2023, 4 p.m. 
Committee review: Tuesday, November 21, 2023, 12-2 p.m. 
DCCC Approval: Friday, December 8, 2023 
 

Upcoming Meetings

DCCC Council Meetings:
Virtual until further notice, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 
Friday, August 11, 2023 Click here to join meeting  

Executive Committee Meetings:
Virtual until further notice, 9-9:30 a.m. 
Thursday, August 3, 2023 Click here to join meeting   
Thursday, September 7, 2023 Click here to join meeting   

Grant Application Review Meetings:
Virtual until further notice, 3-5:30 p.m. 
Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Click here to join meeting  
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 Click here to join meeting  
Tuesday, June 13, 2023 Click here to join meeting  
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 Click here to join meeting 

DCCC Planning Meeting:  
Barcelona Wine Bar, 2900 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205
Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 3-5 p.m.

2023 Discretionary Grant

2023 Discretionary Grant
Grant application due: Monday, November 6, 2023, 4 p.m. 
Final Questionnaire due from previous grant: Monday, November 6, 2023, 4 p.m. 
Committee review: Tuesday, November 21, 2023, 12-2 p.m. 
DCCC Approval: Friday, December 8, 2023 2023

TIER III Discretionary Grants 
The Denver County Cultural Council (DCCC) has allocated the 2023 Discretionary Fund pool towards the advancement of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) of Tier III organizations. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Grants are designed to address the organization’s commitment to executing actions that operationalize these values within the organization and further support communities that have been historically marginalized including Black, Indigenous, Latino/x, people of color (BILPOC) or people of the global majority, people with disabilities, our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersexual, asexual, two spirit + (LGBTQIA2S+) communities. 

Organizations with a focused mission to support any of these historically marginalized communities may apply for funding to support their programming efforts. 

Areas of focus for these grants may be:

  • Hiring a consultant to perform an equity audit of an area of your organization such as salary, recruitment and retention, or programming, with a clear action improvement plan. 
  • Conducting a website accessibility audit with an action improvement plan.
  • Hiring a consultant to create an EDI plan specifically for your organization that could include diversifying your board and staff, incorporating an EDI practice into your decision making, etc.
  • If your organization has an EDI plan, interpretation services for programs and events such as live interpretation (simultaneous interpretation in any language), ASL, or closed captioning.
  • If your organization has an EDI plan, translation of materials or website to support community engagement and outreach efforts. 
  • Hiring an EDI consultant to provide training for your team and board, beyond the training offered to all organizations at no cost through the How to be an Anti-Racist Organization: A Conversation with Dwinita & Tariana.
  • Other initiatives or efforts that advance your EDI efforts.
  • If your organization, through its mission, is focused on serving a community that has been historically marginalized per above, the grant may support your programming.

Grant Guidelines:

  • Organizations must be an SCFD Tier lll organization and must have submitted an accepted application for General Operating Support in Denver County in the most recent application cycle (to be eligible in Denver, organizations must conduct 51% of their annual activities in the City and County of Denver).
  • Applications must be for work that will be initiated after the award is approved, even if the program is not a new program. Retroactive awards cannot be considered.
  • Funds cannot be used for regranting.
  • Funds must be used within one year of receipt.
  • A short Final Questionnaire must be filled out at the end of the work. 

2023 Discretionary Grant Final Questionnaire

Final questionnaire due from previous grant: Monday, November 6, 2023, 4 p.m. Final Questionnaire Form.

Per Discretionary Grants guidelines, you must submit a final questionnaire before you are able to apply for additional funding. Please send to Georgina Guidotti at Georgina.Guidotti@denvergov.org.

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Questions? 

For more information, please contact Georgina Guidotti, Business Operations Administrator, Cultural Affairs

CONTACT GEORGINA