Get to Know Your CFGV Team: Scott Krieger

If you picture our community as being held up by a three-legged stool, the nonprofit sector is an equal partner with government and the private sector in supporting a thriving Gunnison Valley. As our Community Impact Manager, Scott Krieger works closely with individuals and organizations across the nonprofit sector. From formal programming, like STEP, Community Grants, and our annual nonprofit workshops to other informal supports and connection-building, Scott serves as bridge between CFGV staff as a whole and the nonprofit community. This month, we asked him a few questions so you can get to know him a little bit better.

What do you love most about the Gunnison Valley?

This place is a confluence of so many different things, most of which I tend to love. It’s high desert that meets the ridgelines of incredible mountain ranges. It’s cold deep winters and long warm summer days. While perhaps a little isolated, it is centralized to provide easy access to things I love in each direction. There’s some rugged individualism that is blended with a community that largely operates with a collectivist mindset. The people here are unique and genuine, as are their interests and the things they love. It’s not the easiest place to be able to live, but it’s harder to envision finding another place that compares to the Gunnison Valley.

What other nonprofits have you worked with? In what roles?

I started regularly volunteering at nonprofits around the front range during the time when I was a language arts teacher at the beginning of my career. The work felt more and more appealing to me, and eventually I transitioned out of the classroom and into full-time nonprofit work. I was a Program Director at the I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County, as well as a Case Manager for Attention Homes (now TGTHR) in Boulder. I’ve also done some consulting work for CASA Colorado.

What’s the best part of working at CFGV?

Working at CFGV has given me the opportunity to intimately learn about this place I love and the people who help to make it the awesome community that it is. Often, our programmatic focus is largely informed by both the direction of the local nonprofit landscape as well as emerging community needs. Because of this, we often position ourselves to work alongside fellow nonprofit and government leaders to address growing community-wide issues that cannot be solved by any one entity on its own. As our work extends across sectors and issue areas, it allows us to better understand how all parts of our community are interconnected. Some of the initiatives in which we are actively involved address community needs in healthcare, workforce development, basic needs, welcoming and inclusion, housing, education, leadership, and capacity building. That scope of work allows us to engage a wide array of partners, connect others with potential collaborators, and help to fill in the gaps that we are able to observe. Along the way, I’ve gotten to meet and work with some really inspiring folks here who do incredible work every single day.

Tell us a little bit about your life outside of work.

I recently got engaged to a lovely lady named Jodi. We live in Gunnison with our two dogs, who are always eager to make our daily lives as messy and inconvenient as possible, and we love them dearly for it. We tend to spend as much time outside as we can, seeking out whatever activities the various seasons provide. My mom lived in Gunnison/CB in the 70s, and her love and fascination of this place was passed down to me. Much of my family still lives around Colorado, and Gunnison is a frequent gathering place for reunions.

What’s your favorite Gunnison Valley event?

Being lucky enough to live next to one of our unique and invaluable city ditches in Gunnison, I love the opening of the ditches each May! Opening and closing days at CBMR are also high on the list, as are summer concert series around the Valley and happy hour beers at the Brewery, River Bar, or Dive.

Thank you, Scott, for sharing some of your story and for everything you do to build a thriving Gunnison Valley. We’re lucky to have you on our team!