Denver Scholarship Foundation (DSF) is excited and proud to announce its 2025 Partners of the Year. These four organizations were honored at the 2025 DSF Homecoming Gala for their exceptional commitment to supporting DSF and Denver Public Schools (DPS) students across the categories of DSF College Partner, District Partner, Community Partner, and Corporate Partner. As partnerships and relationships are the heart of DSF’s work, DSF extends our heartfelt gratitude to these organizations for their dedication, talent, and steadfast support of DSF Scholars, Alumni, their families and the Denver community. “The success and impact of DSF would not be possible without the thoughtful collaboration of partners throughout our community,” says Lorii Rabinowitz, chief executive officer of DSF. “Each of these organizations has gone above and beyond to support DSF and the students we serve, enhancing every aspect of our work. We celebrated their partnership and support at the 2025 DSF Annual Homecoming Gala.”
(Accepting their awards on behalf of our partners from left to right Dr. Nate Easley, Neisa Lynch, Danny Wetmore, and Don Daboub presented by Lorii Rabinowitz in the podium)
The 2025 DSF College Partner of the Year is Colorado State University (CSU). As one of the nation’s top public Tier 1 Research universities and an institution on the rise, CSU’s success is driven by an ambition to be excellent in all it does, combined with an unparalleled location that is one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant areas in the country. CSU is a higher education destination for working and learning for faculty, staff, and students from across Colorado, the nation, and around the globe. In the past decade, CSU has built on all-time highs in enrollment and success, experienced record fundraising and research expenditures that keep hitting new highs year-after-year, and faculty that are known nationally and internationally for their groundbreaking research. CSU represented its highest award year to date with over $1.3 million in DSF awards paid, plus an additional $350,000 in supplemental awards, for a total of $1.6 million, and provided additional wraparound support in collaborating with the DSF Scholarship team and in communication to DSF Scholars for summer awards. Dr. Nate Easley, CSU System Board of Governors, accepted the award on CSU’s behalf.
The 2025 DSF District Partner of the Year is Montbello High School, a comprehensive high school in far Northeast Denver serving grades 9 – 12 that reopened in the Fall of 2022 and serves as a focal point of the Montbello community. Montbello High School partners with families, community, and alumni to implement comprehensive learning that honors the past, present, and future, providing experiences that are academically robust and anti-racist. Montbello High School is unified in their relentless focus on multicultural education, innovative and interdisciplinary teaching and learning, restorative approaches, and the amplification of student voice. As a proud supporter of DSF, Montbello High School has been number one in championing and supporting its mission since the beginning of DSF’s roots. They have integrated college advising into the culture of the school, created a College and Career Team that includes DSF College Advisors alongside Montbello counselors, and expanded their partnership through extended collaboration and support. Neisa Lynch, Principal at Montbello High School accepted the award on their behalf.
The 2025 DSF Corporate Partner of the Year is DaVita, a health care provider focused on transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients globally. As a comprehensive kidney care provider, DaVita has been a leader in clinical quality and innovation for 25 years. DaVita cares for patients at every stage and setting along their kidney health journey—from slowing the progression of kidney disease to helping to support transplantation, from acute hospital care to dialysis at home. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved mortality, helped improve health access and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care community to adopt a higher quality standard of care for all patients, everywhere. Since 2012, DaVita has served as a valued partner providing generous support to the DSF Homecoming Gala and the DSF Named Scholarship supported by DaVita, which is designated for students pursuing a degree in a healthcare-related field. DaVita has hosted the DSF Alumni Advisory Committee Career Networking Fair onsite at its headquarters for the last two years. In addition, DaVita teammates have participated in student-facing career panels and events throughout the academic year. They are actively serving as DSF Committee members, and members of the DSF Board of Directors and Associate Board. Danny Wetmore, Vice President, Operations Innovation at DaVita and DSF Board Member, accepted the award on their behalf.
The 2025 DSF Community Partner of the Year is Univision Colorado, one of Entravision’s television stations. Entravision is a media and advertising technology company helping brands and businesses accelerate their business growth. The broadcast properties include the largest television affiliate group of the Univision and UniMás television networks. Univision Colorado was critical in helping DSF reach Spanish-speaking families by hosting the first Spanish Call Center to answer questions about the financial aid applications. This effort included media coverage that broke down barriers to access and ensured families received accurate, timely information and resources in their preferred language to make informed decisions about their post-high school plans. To further amplify the impact, Univision produced a commercial to promote the interviews, helping expand the reach even more. Don Daboub, Senior Vice President of Sales, Entravision, and DSF Board Member, accepted the award on Univision Colorado’s behalf.
