Key Collaborators

The Charlie initiative has been and continues to be a truly collaborative effort. The following have contributed substantively to Charlie:

• Marlene Lund from The Center for Urban Education Ministries
• The Center for Urban Education Ministries Advisory Board, in particular Jim Handrich, who served on the core team for Phase I
• Wheat Ridge Ministries board of directors and staff, in particular Brian Becker and Rick Herman who both brought their passion for Lutheran schools
• Our funders, including Lutheran Foundation in St Louis, Van Lunen Foundation, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Siebert Luthean Foundation, Christopher Family Foundation and, especially, the vision of Mary Gundelach
• The full team at Criterion Ventures that has contributed to this thinking: Jackie VanderBrug, Joy Anderson, Ashesh Parikh, Katie Drasser, Andrew Greenblatt and Adam Rubin from 2Revolutions, LLC

We particularly want to thank the participants in summits we held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and St. Louis on potential new models for urban Lutheran education. The dedication and thoughtfulness of participants was truly remarkable.

We have benefited from the time and wisdom of countless thoughtful reflectors. The vision and insight of the leaders in this field is inspiring and grounds for much hope.

To collaborate and join Charlie's efforts, please contact Joy Anderson at anderson[@]criterionventures.com.