ICA Denver's History

Our Rich History

The early years
ICA has had a presence in Denver since the late 1960's. The early years were a wild time of intensive trainings offered by the parent organization, the Ecumenical Institute (EI), through local churches for their pastors and lay people, translating the healing message of the church into 20th Century terms. In the early 70's, the EI spun off the Institute of Cultural Affairs as a social change organization "concerned with the human factor in world development."

The incorporation of ICA initiated a "turn to the world" that is still relevant today in ICA offices located in over 35 countries. For more information on ICA International, click here. As part of a national (and later international) campaign In the mid 70’s, ICA Denver facilitated bicentennial town meetings in all Colorado counties and many municipalities.Leading up to the International Exposition of Rural Development held in India in February of 1984, ICA Denver hosted numerous Rural Development Symposia across the state and formed a steering committee who selected two stellar Colorado projects to represent the state in New Dehli. In the early 90's, ICA Denver began offering the Technology of Participation (ToP)® public and in-house courses.

In the new millennium
In 2000, ICA Denver volunteers hosted the ICA’s Global Civil Society Conference at the University of Denver for approximately 600 international participants. In 2003, ICA was involved with a household water conservation project for low-income neighborhoods, run in partnership with Colorado State University’s Denver Cooperative Extension office. The first ICA Denver Neighborhood Academy, in the East Montclair/Lowry neighborhoods was completed in February, 2005. Community Safety Leadership Training was offered to Mercy Housing refugees in two locations in 2006 and 2007. A Facilitator Learning Lab took five new facilitators to a new level of competency in 2007. A full schedule of ToP facilitation training courses in 2008 allowed ICA Denver to mentor and qualify two new trainers. We welcomed Eunice and Sherwood Shankland who moved from Virginia to Centennial in March of 2008. Half of each year, we are joined by colleagues John and Ann Epps from Malaysia. The addition of these four mentor trainers and highly experienced facilitators, each with many years in development work around the world, has added new depth to the local team.

ICA Denver focuses on two program areas:
The Culture of Participation offers the Technology of Participation (ToP)® training seminars and consulting services focused on facilitation and participatory organizational change. During 2007 and 2008, eight public ToP® group facilitation and strategic planning courses were held, including training in Spanish, and eighty-eight graduates were provided with methods for effective group facilitation There are four additional public courses scheduled for 2009. Two new ToP® trainers were qualified in October of 2008, expanding the number of active local trainers to seven.

Community Leadership and Learning works with community groups, schools, youth, and adults to mobilize community residents for voluntary action in community service and neighborhood improvement. The Neighborhood Academy and the Community Safety Leadership Training are key programs in this area.