Nate Broeckert began his new role as Executive Director at Coal Creek Meals on Wheels on May 13, 2024. He replaces Lark Rambo, who had been in the role since 2019 and led the organization through tremendous change and growth. Nate has served his whole career in either the public or nonprofit sector. Prior to joining CCMOW, Nate served as the Director of Programs at The Colorado Nonprofit Association, where he supported nonprofits across the state by helping them build capacity and effectively execute their missions.
Nate expressed his enthusiasm for his new role, stating, "I am absolutely thrilled to join the incredible team at CCMOW and to contribute to the vital mission. With the demand for our services at an all-time high, I am eager to work closely with our dedicated staff, volunteers, and community partners to expand our reach and make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve."
Nate recently sat down with Brittany, CCMOW Development & Marketing Director, to answer some questions about himself and why he came to Coal Creek Meals on Wheels.
Q: What drew you to Coal Creek Meals on Wheels? Can you tell me about your “why” for the work you do?
A: I believe that the path of least resistance to changing society is one community at a time - and I believe that food insecurity is a growing challenge for everyone. Gentrification is real in our communities and the state of Colorado as a whole - as communities like ours gentrify, we are often leaving behind the founding populations of these communities. We owe it to them to think about how we support and uplift them.
My wife grew up in Lafayette, and we currently live 15 minutes away from the communities we serve. In my last role, I really started to miss direct service and specifically impacting local communities, and the Executive Director role at Coal Creek Meals on Wheels seemed like the perfect way to do just that. I want to bring a strategic approach to direct service to better support the communities that I and many of our neighbors call home.
Q: Tell me about your vision for your new role and for Coal Creek Meals on Wheels.
A: We are at a crossroads at CCMOW where growth is not a suggestion - it’s a requirement. We have outgrown our space both physically and from a staff capacity point. It is clear that in order to meet the growing demand, we need to expand our services - delivering more meals, serving more people - and also thinking about how we expand our services to ensure they don’t just stop at serving seniors. We want to ensure we are serving everyone in our community who is struggling to access a hot meal every day. We know that schools are often the only time kids can rely on a healthy, hot meal - but that is an opportunity that many adults in our communities don’t have - so how do we fill that gap? Additionally, we need to think about how we can grow in a way that is sustainable for our staff, our space, and the community, but growth will not be possible without the support of donors, corporate partners, foundations, and our community partners.
We know that elimination of SNAP benefits, rising inflation, rising housing costs, increased property taxes, and more have caused more individuals in the community to not know where their next meal is coming from or make difficult choices between purchasing food and other basic necessities. We have the ability and infrastructure to help bridge that gap. Now we have to think critically about how we reach those people and ensure they know that we exist and that they are eligible for our services. From February of 2023 to today, we have seen a 55% increase in demand for our services. However, we have not seen the equivalent growth in our fundraising revenue. Now more than ever it is critical that we have solid partnerships throughout our communities to ensure that we never have to turn anyone away who needs access to nutritious meals or other support services.
Q: How did you get to where you are today in your career?
A: Like most people, I got into nonprofit work accidently. I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but I found out quickly that I did not. My first adult job was running community centers for Jefferson County Public Schools. Community Centers acted as hubs for community resources - they had before/after school programs for youth, laundry services, nurses, ESL classes, and more. This work sparked my love for volunteerism and community based services. I did that work for five years, and it was extremely rewarding - I learned so much about community service and how people have amazing hearts. It became evident that if you present communities with a problem, they will come together to try to fix it.
This is also where I developed a love for working with volunteers, which led me to City Year Denver where I worked for three years supporting their Americorps program in Denver Public Schools. From there, I went to work at the Colorado Nonprofit Association because I was intrigued by the idea of thinking holistically about how we support nonprofits in our state. In this role, I was deeply engaged in the challenges that nonprofits like Coal Creek Meals on Wheels face each day. I supported local organizations in capacity building efforts including fundraising, staff development, board training, and more. Though my time at the Colorado Nonprofit Association was extremely rewarding, I was drawn back to serve my community and truly felt called to serve in this role as Executive Director at CCMOW.
Q: Tell me more about yourself.
A: I live in Frederick with my wife, Sara, and our son, Brody, along with our two dogs, Darwin and Lola. I serve on the board of the Ronald McDonald House and Write On Sports Denver. In my free time, I like to golf (very poorly) and root obnoxiously for the Green Bay Packers. Fun fact: 5 years and 20 pounds ago, I completed three Iron Mans!
Coal Creek Meals on Wheels is so excited to have Nate as a part of our team. Please reach out at any time if you’d like to join us for lunch or schedule a time to chat - Nate would love to meet you!
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