The Colorado Open Space Alliance is a Colorado-based non-profit under the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center. As a regional organization of publicly funded local government open space programs, we work cooperatively to share information, create public awareness, and foster partnerships needed to protect and preserve the special places of Colorado.
COSA strives to achieve its purpose by
- Sharing Information - Provide networking, information, skills and resource sharing, training, mentoring, technical assistance, clearinghouse activities and communication among publicly funded open space programs.
- Creating Public Awareness - Promote land conservation benefits and program successes.
- Fostering Partnerships - Create and nurture partnerships to assist in program implementation, fundraising and large-scale projects among open space programs, landowners, land trusts, conservation and land use organizations, and other government programs.
Open Space Programs
Steering Committee
Interested in becoming a COSA Steering Committee Member? Learn More
Jennifer Almstead
Fund Development & Projects Specialist
Larimer County Department of Natural Resources
jalmstead@larimer.org
Jennifer Anderson
Education, Partnership and Volunteer Manager
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
jennifer.m.anderson@state.co.us
Sandy Bottoms
Grants & Acquisitions Administrator
Arapahoe County Open Spaces
sbottoms@arapahoegov.com
Bevin Carithers
Chief Park Ranger
Boulder County
bcarithers@bouldercounty.gov
Alex Castino
Program Officer: Northern Front Range
Great Outdoors Colorado
acastino@goco.org
Jo Daloisio
Volunteer Coordinator
Boulder County
jdaloisio@bouldercounty.gov
Brigit Eastep
Center for Public Lands, Director
Western State University
beastep@western.edu
Byron Fanning
Director of Parks, Open Space, and Cultural Arts
Adams County
bfanning@adcogov.org
Julia Feder
Environmental Program Manager
City of Fort Collins Natural Areas
jfeder@fcgov.com
Jesse Green
Lead Ranger and Rocky Mountain Ranger Association Representative
City of Fort Collins
jgreen@fcgov.com
Julie Lehman
Horticulture and Open Space Manager
City and County of Denver
Julie.Lehman@denvergov.org
Ryan Mera Evans
Open Space Operations Supervisor
City and County of Denver
Ryan.meraevans@denvergov.org
Joe Reale
Open Space Superintendent
City of Westminster
jreale@westminsterco.gov
Matt Robbins
Community Connections Manager
Jefferson County
mrobbins@co.jefferson.co.us
Emily Ruff
Recreation and Facilities Field Supervisor
Boulder County
eruff@bouldercounty.gov
Peter Suneson
Open Space Manager
Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources
peter.suneson@eaglecounty.us
Gabriela Szyniec
Restoration Specialist
City of Greeley
Gabriela.Szyniec@greeleygov.com
Bill Wildenberg
Senior Landscape Architect
City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
wildenbergw@bouldercolorado.gov
A Project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center
COSA is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (CNDC).
From COSA’s inception in 2000 up until 2016, COSA’s finances were held by Larimer County. This model has worked very well but as the annual conference has grown we started to explore options for a business model that would serve COSA into the future. The Steering Committee researched a number of options, including forming our own 501(c)3, and merging with a like-minded organization such as the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts (CCLT) and the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA). CCLT, CPRA, and other organizations host an annual conference and provide services that apply to aspects of the work we do as open space programs, but none of them are a perfect fit for the range of services under the open space umbrella. Ultimately we landed on the fiscal sponsor model, in which the sponsor provides the operational framework and back-of-house support while allowing us to focus on the work we do—mainly, putting on our annual conference.
CNDC is a 501(c)3 formed in 1999 by a group of community and foundation leaders to provide support to the nonprofit sector. The fiscal sponsor model provides projects with the legal framework to operate without having to form their own 501(c)3. CNDC charges a 10% fee on revenues in return for the services it provides.
KGNU's Dot Org
COSA was recently featured on Dot Org, KGNU's weekly look at local nonprofits.
A Care for Colorado Coalition Partner
