THE KALEO COLLECTIVE

The Kaleo Collective was founded with the heart and premise that love knows no boundaries and ALL people/communities long and deserve to thrive. We do this better together in authentic relationships doing meaningful things together. The Kaleo Collective, a community foundation, was born bring people, organizations, and strategic projects together to build a thriving community for ALL people in Vail valley and beyond. 

 

Here's the story behind our name “Kaleo”. While working abroad, I ran across a unique collective of businesses in the Basque region of Spain. Founded by a Jesuit priest named José María and a group of entrepreneurs in 1956, they were called (Greek word kaleo) to serve their community that was devastated by the Spanish civil war. They set out to rebuild their community and take care of their friends and neighbors. 

 

The group started with a vocational school and a manufacturing business. Now, 70 years later, they have over 360 companies, employing over 80,000 people. In 2023, they earned $11 billion in revenue and were serving on five continents.

 

This small band of people came together to give and to serve their friends and neighbors. In the past 70 years, they have changed their lives, communities, and the world through their good works of working, building, and doing. They have built a thriving collective of people, businesses, and community organizations doing good. 

 

Thus our name: The Kaleo Collective. We envision building a thriving Vail valley for ALL people by the year 2050. 

 

Our mission is simple. We are called to support and empower the builders and doers in the Vail valley. We convene, connect, and catalyze to build a thriving world class community that can be replicated and multiplied around the world. 

 

After a year of survey work, research, and talking to hundreds of leaders in the valley, five domains have emerged that drive the heart of our community: Business, Faith, Nonprofit, Education, and our local Government that ties us all together. 

 

To serve, support, and give to the builders and doers of valley, we are starting with the six initiatives listed on the Home page: affordable housing, trade school, community gatherings, senior care, Christian schools, and the Sheriff and DA's offices.

 

If you would like to join, serve, support, or give to our movement of builders and doers. Reach out and connect as we seek to move the mountains in the Vail valley. 

 

Kern White, Founder