UNA-BC’s mission is to support the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals through community grassroots action and leadership. UNA-BC believes in and advocates for the work of the UN through a combination of community education and direct policy advocacy.
About UNA Boulder County: Colorado’s Home for Global Engagement
Long before our current chapter took shape, Boulder residents were already coming together to celebrate the United Nations and its mission. In the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, UN Day celebrations brought together members of UNA-USA, the League of Women Voters, and other passionate citizens. Leaders like Maxine Hitchcock, Cathy Wrenn, and Bruce MacKenzie helped keep the UN’s work visible and vibrant in our community.
Highlights from those early years include the UN’s 40th birthday celebration in 1985, featuring Susan Markham, a New Zealander working in the UN Public Information Agency, who spoke on the Decade for Women and International Youth Year. The following year, the Daily Camera reported on a UN Day event headlined by Dr. Francis Bretherton of NCAR, who addressed the “Peaceful Use of Outer Space.”
Some Boulder residents also recall a short-lived UNA-USA chapter that formed around 1964. Though it existed for only a few years, its spirit was remembered fondly by figures like John Porritt and Bruce MacKenzie, who reflected on those early days at a 2006 Annual Meeting.
Did you know? We’re currently the only active chapter of UNA-USA in Colorado. While our name honors our roots in Boulder County, our community and our mission reach across the entire state. Whether you’re in Denver, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, or anywhere in between, you are welcome here. We are UNA-Boulder County by name; but we are Colorado’s chapter at heart.
A Legacy of Local Action, Global Vision
The Modern Chapter Takes Shape
Our current Boulder County Chapter was reestablished in the mid-1990s at the encouragement of Professor Ved Nanda of the University of Denver, then president of the Colorado Division of UNA-USA. Following a series of preparatory meetings in 1995, officers and directors were identified, bylaws were adopted, and by 1996, our first official board meeting was held.
In 2003, the chapter gained important financial footing when Gatekeepers to the Future, a nonprofit associated with First Congregational Church of Boulder, ceased operations and generously gifted their remaining funds to support our work.
What we do today
Like UNA-USA chapters across the country, we bring together grassroots energy and high-level engagement. We connect community members with global issues, provide educational resources to the public and media, and ensure that Colorado’s voice is heard by our representatives in government. From free community programs to direct service initiatives, our work is driven by volunteers and supporters who believe a better world is possible, and worth building together.
