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| Name | Title | Organization | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
