About Our Business
Born out of a passion for serving youth, Impact Education Collaborative focuses on helping organizations develop cultural and emotional humility by practicing the principles of Diversity, Equity and Belonging coupled with Social and Emotional Wellness. Our dedication to this work is a result of decades spent in the nonprofit sector seeing the ways that organizations fall short in service-delivery and support of staff and participants. We do not claim to have all of the answers, instead we use our collective experience to work alongside organizations to find solutions together.
Statement of Belief
At Impact Education Collaborative (IEC), we are dedicated to serving youth through fostering communities that value cultural and emotional humility. We define cultural humility through the embodiment of Diversity, Equity and Belonging (DEB) principles. These include:
Diversity of thought and cultural experience,
Valuing differences,
Providing access to opportunities, knowledge and resources,
Freedom to determine one's own future
Centering the voices of youth who have been systematically marginalized
A sense of belonging that emphasizes making space for all to be heard, and,
Discovery of self and openness to seeing others.
We define emotional humility as continuous reflection and understanding of Social and Emotional Wellness (SEW), both of self and others, in order to build community through relationship. Effective SEW involves self-awareness, self-care, social-awareness, relationship-building and decision-making skills. With self-awareness at the root of SEW, we learn about ourselves so that we can connect with others. Self-care allows us to manage our emotions and behaviors so that we can better care for ourselves and others. Through social awareness we are able to relate and empathize with people who may be different from us. This allows us to create healthy and meaningful connections to others with different experiences and backgrounds. Lastly, decision-making skills support the growth of a just and caring environment where we all feel seen and heard.
DEB and SEW values drive our work at Impact Education Collaborative because we believe they are the foundation of anti-oppressive work. IEC is an organization that works to dismantle oppressive systems and believes that liberation from systemic oppression starts with systems and organizations internalizing the belief that everyone deserves liberation. At IEC, we understand that oppression occurs at different levels; from the internalized and individual to the systemic and ideological. Each person must build their own capacity for self-awareness, empathy, forgiveness and compassion. Without the principles of cultural and emotional humility we cannot be aware of the ways we contribute to or are impacted by oppression in order to do the work to dismantle it.
At Impact Education Collaborative, we believe that this is how we live our most full and meaningful lives. We strive to model these values in our work with adults, youth and community - but we are always a work in progress. We strive to make each person we work with feel heard, supported and valued in their progress, while challenging them to keep moving forward. We strive to listen, love and learn while supporting the difficult work of anti-oppression. We celebrate the richness of diversity, the elevation of equity and the collectiveness of belonging.
Meet Our Team
Nikki Murillo (She/Her/Ella)
Co-Creator
Nikki Murillo is a first-generation Master of Social Work (CSU) graduate in her family and proud Latina. Additionally, she has certificates in Nonprofit Administration and Social-Emotional Character Development. Nikki has lived and worked in Denver for the last 13 years. During that time she has served youth in a variety of settings, from after-school programming, case management and counseling to most recently supporting teachers and administrators in applying equitable practices in the classroom. She has supported youth and adults through social-emotional character development as well as developed programs to implement more inclusive and equitable policies and practices that enrich service delivery. Her passion for integrating Social Emotional Wellness into the work of Diversity, Equity and Belonging is founded in her own journey of self-reflection and identity discovery.
Jen Martin (She/Her)
Co-Creator
Jen Martin, a Colorado native, has been leading in youth focused non-profit organizations for over 15 years. She holds an M.S. in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Walden University and a B.A. in Family Relations from Oklahoma Baptist University. She has served youth and adults through various roles from case management to after school and summer program design and implementation. She has supported adults in professional development related to Social Emotional Character Development and has supported organizations with strengthening systems and structures that support high quality programming. Having seen focused efforts on SEL and DEB lived out in her own work and work with organizations, she is passionate about supporting others in their journey.
