How Business, Policy, and Philanthropy Helped Get Denver Preschool Program Approved By Voters

After more than a decade of trying to get public support for preschool in Denver passed by voters, 2006 was finally the year when Denver said “yes” to Ballot Measure 1A. The measure generated $12 million a year for what became the Denver Preschool Program, costing Denver residents 12 cents on every $100 purchase. And Denver voters would overwhelming re-authorize and expand the sales tax several times again, including most recently in 2023.

The 2006 effort didn’t happen by chance. The measure was spurred by then Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and advocates like Sam Gary, who helped lead the mayor’s Early Childhood Education Commission and the Leadership Team for Early Childhood Education.

“There certainly would be no Denver Preschool Program without Sam Gary,” Hickenlooper shared in this piece by Gary Community Ventures. “I told Sam this would be hard to pass unless we bring people together and have a real broad-based process. If you look at all the people who worked with us, there were over 100 people and there was this positive energy that really started with Sam and Nancy.”

During more than four decades, Sam and Nancy Gary used their philosophy that business, policy, and philanthropy should work together to create opportunities for kids and families. After success in the oil industry, they formed Gary Community Ventures (originally known as The Piton Foundation) in 1976.

Learn more about Sam and Nancy Gary’s incredible contributions to “Convincing Denver Voters that Preschool Matters” and laying the groundwork for what would become Denver Preschool Program.