The Bell is happy to announce our new superstar board chair — Sadé Cooper! Sadé is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities (CHIC), which helps families break intergenerational cycles of poverty and violence. We asked Sadé, via a Q&A format, to tell us a little about her organization and how she got to know the Bell. We’re pleased to share that with you!
Q: How did you first get to know the Bell?
A: I first got to know the Bell through the Women’s Foundation of Colorado. They did something incredibly important by intentionally grouping direct service organizations with policy led organizations. That’s how I was introduced to Julie (Pecaut, the Bell’s Director of Strategy and Operations) and the Bell Policy Center. That introduction has been truly transformative for CHIC. It shifted how we understood our work not just as service delivery but as part of a broader policy ecosystem.
Q: Would you tell us a little bit about the organization you run?
A: I run CHIC, a Black women-led nonprofit focused on economic mobility, social emotional and cultural healing, along with workforce pathways for Black women and families in Colorado. Our work sits at the intersection of direct service systems change and policy implementation (Justice for Black Coloradans). We don’t just respond to gaps, we document the lived experience in data and move that information upstream so it can influence long term solutions.
Q: How do you view the Bell’s role in Colorado’s progressive ecosystem?
A: I view the Bell as foundational to Colorado’s progressive ecosystem. The Bell does the quiet, rigorous work of laying the policy groundwork that makes transformational change possible. I experienced that firsthand when CHIC worked alongside Bell Policy on the initial research for Educational Justice for Black Coloradans. That work directly informed what is now historic legislation signed into law to support Black Coloradans. Bell helped build the intellectual and policy infrastructure that allowed that moment to happen. Without that kind of long view research and strategy many of these wins would never make it across the finish line.
