The Dakota Foundation is a Colorado Springs-based private foundation whose strongest education-governance significance is not a simple charter-school tie. The stronger source-backed pattern is a catalytic-philanthropy mechanism: Dakota describes itself as using grants and PRIs to seed self-sufficiency programs, and the retained source chain shows Dakota Promise moving from private funding in 2020 to the voter-funded D2 Promise public program in 2025, then into a Promise for All replication layer involving Pikes Peak State College, Legacy Institute, and Dakota CEO Kelsey Nolan.
For D11, the direct Dakota organizational ties currently retained are narrower than a district-control claim but broader than a one-off donation. They include a $22,000 D11 Teacher Impact Award contribution matched by D11, official D11 minutes thanking Dakota for teacher support, Dakota-described Mitchell Promise support, and official D11 / PPSC materials showing Mitchell Promise was expanded into a D11-wide Promise program with Bruni Foundation, Dakota Foundation, Legacy Institute, and Pikes Peak State College named as partners. A separate TRACER screen supports personal Bart / Cathy Holaday campaign contributions to D11 candidate committees. That campaign layer should not be treated as Dakota Foundation organizational spending.
The D11 board-packet follow-up resolves part of the fiscal-mechanism picture. The original May 2023 Mitchell Promise packet says D11 would cover 50 percent up to $200,000 and PPSC, through Dakota Foundation, would cover 50 percent up to $200,000; the attached D11 / PPSC memorandum says PPSC would invoice D11 twice annually and identify philanthropic support through the PPSC Foundation for PPSC's 50 percent share. The November 2023 D11 Promise expansion retained D11's $200,000 annual MLO cap and named Bruni Foundation, Dakota Foundation, D11, and PPSC as collaborators, while the minutes separately record PPSC President Lance Bolton thanking Legacy Institute. The narrower finance-records follow-up confirms that the official state program acronym is COSI for Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative and that PPSC Foundation is a general COSI matching-scholarship node, but it still does not fully reconcile Dakota Foundation, PPSC Foundation, Pikes Peak Community Foundation, Bruni Foundation, Legacy Institute, or any D11-specific COSI route.
36-7213554, 2020-2024 decoded filing and schedule text, and 2024 rendered filing details.Holaday.Dakota Foundation Dtd 122997 Holaday A Bart Ttee.36-7213554.PO BOX 50971, Colorado Springs, CO.1999-07-01.Dakota's current mission page frames the foundation around self-sufficiency, business discipline, entrepreneurship, incentives, education, and social return. The guidelines page says Dakota prefers PRIs and social impact bonds and considers grants on a limited basis. The FAQ and guidelines describe a model that seeks sustainability, scalability, benchmarks, and face-to-face due diligence.
This matters analytically because Dakota is not only a donor list. Its own pages present grants and PRIs as mechanisms for building sustainable, scalable program capacity. The strongest retained evidence shows that model in practice through Promise-program work.
$200,000 seed funding over two years, an inaugural October 2027 cohort, and guidance by Lance Bolton, Zach McComsey, Jordan Bridwell, and Kelsey Nolan.Evidence strength: direct for the public partnership statements, program timeline, public-funding claim, and Kelsey Nolan's Promise for All leadership listing. Claim limit: the source set does not yet include grant agreements, MOUs, ballot-language source packets, fund-account records, or Promise for All seed-funding source documents.
$22,000, matched by D11.$22,000 grant recipient for an annual teaching award.Evidence strength: direct. Claim limit: this is a teacher-recognition grant / match, not evidence by itself of district policy influence, charter support, or privatization.
$25,000 per year for up to five years, totaling $125,000, for 2023-2027.$35,000 recipient for tuition and fees for aspiring college students in low-income and low-performing Colorado Springs school districts.$200,000 and PPSC, through Dakota Foundation, would cover 50 percent up to $200,000. The attached D11 / PPSC memorandum says Pell and Colorado aid are used first, Promise funds pay remaining balances, PPSC invoices D11 twice annually for D11's share, and PPSC will identify philanthropic support through PPSC Foundation for the PPSC-side 50 percent share.Evidence strength: direct for Dakota's self-described Mitchell Promise commitment, official D11 expansion statements, filing-level scholarship-purpose rows, D11's original Mitchell Promise MOU, and D11's MLO budget approvals. Claim limit: the exact Dakota / PPSC Foundation / Pikes Peak Community Foundation fiscal-administration route remains unresolved, especially for the districtwide D11 Promise expansion.
$200,000 annual D11 cap and $800,000 four-year maximum. The final amendment names Bruni Foundation, Dakota Foundation, D11, and PPSC as collaborators; the minutes record Lance Bolton thanking Dakota Foundation, Legacy Institute, Bruni Foundation, the D11 board, and the superintendent.D11 Promise/scholarships (PIP #12) as a 2017 MLO purchased-services line at $200,000, while the transfer summaries still label item 12 as Mitchell Promise.Colorado Scholarship Opportunity Initiative, Legacy Institute, Dakota Foundation, Bruni Foundation, PPSC, and mill-levy funds went into a $1.6 million program. The finance-records follow-up indicates the official state-program name is Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI), but it still does not tie COSI funds to D11 Promise.Evidence strength: direct for the D11 / PPSC / partner public-surface claims where official D11 and PPSC sources are used; direct for D11's own approval and MLO budget line; moderate for local-reporting dollar-stack details that remain unsupported by the captured D11 packet layer. Claim limit: the packet and finance layers still do not show donor restrictions, a complete outside payment route, D11-specific COSI documentation, or the source of Promise for All seed awards.
Additional funding has been provided by the Legacy Foundation.About the Legacy Institute section then describes Legacy Institute.Legacy Foundation, in the D11 Promise / D2 Promise / Promise for All lane.$50,000 education grant to Legacy Institute at 1310 Pecan St. This supports Bruni-to-Legacy funding but does not identify the grant as D11 Promise, Promise for All, or charter-school funding.Evidence strength: direct for Legacy Institute partnership / board overlap and direct for Bruni-to-Legacy grant evidence. Claim limit: the 2019 Legacy Foundation wording is now less likely to be a central separate node in this source set, but it remains unresolved until a legal / fiscal source identifies the exact label.
No direct Dakota Foundation grant, PRI, board, contract, or event-hosting relationship with Parents Challenge surfaced in the retained official Dakota pages, decoded 2020-2024 ProPublica schedule text, or TRACER screen. The follow-up does, however, show Pikes Peak Community Foundation as an education-grant intermediary that made a $26,000 2023 grant to Parents Challenge. Dakota's 2024 filing separately lists scholarship-purpose grants to Pikes Peak Community Foundation. Do not connect those dollars without fund-account, donor-restriction, or grant-administration records.
Evidence strength: negative bounded screen for direct Dakota-to-Parents; direct for the separate PPCF-to-Parents grant row. Claim limit: PPCF is a plausible intermediary to investigate, not proof of Dakota funding Parents Challenge.
The 2024 rendered 990-PF filing reports:
$29,098,283.$750,000.$5,015,369.$155,588.$524,769.$550,000.$1,154,824.Dakota's 2025 retirement article separately says the foundation has made more than $7.2 million in grants and more than $4.8 million in PRIs to more than 200 nonprofits.
The retained TRACER screen is a personal-donor screen, not a Dakota Foundation political-spending record. It supports these direct contribution rows:
| contributor | date | recipient committee | candidate / purpose field | amount | evidence strength | claim limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathy Holaday | 2023-10-26 | ELECT PARTH MELPAKAM |
Parth G. Melpakam | $2,500 |
direct | Personal contribution; not Dakota Foundation spending |
| Bart Holaday | 2025-10-06 | DR. RUEHL FOR D11 |
Michelle Ruehl | $2,500 |
direct | Personal contribution; not proof of coordination or policy influence |
| Bart Holaday | 2025-10-06 | FRIENDS OF MR. COLE |
Bruce Eugene Cole | $2,500 |
direct | Personal contribution; candidate context needs a separate election-source pass |
| Bart Holaday | 2025-10-06 | PARENTS FOR JEREMIAH |
Jeremiah Johnson | $2,500 |
direct | Personal contribution; candidate context needs a separate election-source pass |
The same bounded screen found no contribution rows for Dakota Foundation as an entity or Kelsey Nolan in the searched 2019-2026 contribution slices.
| source node | target node | tie type | time range | mechanism | possible flow type | observable effect | evidence strength | claim limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Foundation | Dakota Promise / Harrison D2 / PPCC-PPSC | philanthropic partnership / grant support | 2019-2024 source set | three-year private funding pilot, coaching / tuition support | money, legitimacy, program capacity | D2 materials describe private funding beginning in 2020 and transition to D2 management / public funding | direct for public statements | Grant agreements / MOUs not retrieved |
| Dakota Promise / D2 Promise | Promise for All | replication model | 2025-2027 planned | fellowship, seed funding, coaching, financial modeling | program design, legitimacy, capital | Promise for All cites D2 Promise as model and lists Kelsey Nolan among guides | direct for public page | Seed-funding source and governance documents not retrieved |
| Dakota / Bruni / Legacy / PPSC partner layer | D11 Promise | scholarship / pathway partnership | 2023-present source set | expansion of Mitchell Promise to D11-wide Promise | money, college pathway, legitimacy | D11 board communication, November 2023 packet / minutes, PPSC / local reporting | direct for official partner claims and D11 MLO approval | Outside payment route, restrictions, COSI role, and agreements beyond the original Mitchell MOU unresolved |
| Dakota Foundation | Colorado Springs School District 11 | grant relationship | 2024-2025 | Teacher Impact Award contribution matched by D11 | money, recognition, district legitimacy | 990-PF grant row and D11 minutes thanking Dakota | direct | Not evidence of policy control or charter influence |
| Dakota Foundation | Mitchell High School / PPSC | scholarship support | 2023-2027 stated | Mitchell Promise grant commitment | money, college pathway, coaching support | Dakota activities page states $25,000 per year / five-year commitment |
direct for self-description | Filing rows point to Pikes Peak Community Foundation; fiscal route unresolved |
| Bart Holaday / Kelsey Nolan | Legacy Institute | board service / nonprofit affiliation | 2022-2026 source set | Legacy board roles and Promise partnership | legitimacy, network access, program support | Current and archived Legacy evidence lists Dakota leaders | direct | Does not prove Dakota grants to Legacy or control of Legacy |
| Bruni Foundation | Legacy Institute | grant relationship | 2023 tax year / filed 2025 | Form 990-PF education grant | money | Bruni 2024 IRS 990-PF OCR row lists $50,000 to Legacy Institute |
direct | Purpose says education only; no D11 Promise / Promise for All restriction shown |
| Pikes Peak Community Foundation | Parents Challenge | grant relationship | 2023 | Form 990 Schedule I education grant | money | PPCF 2023 IRS 990 OCR row lists $26,000 to Parents Challenge |
direct | Not a Dakota-to-Parents flow without fund records |
| Kelsey Nolan | Promise for All | advisory / leadership role | 2025-2027 planned | Promise Fellowship guide | expertise, legitimacy, program design | Promise for All page lists her role | direct | Does not identify Dakota funding terms |
| Bart / Cathy Holaday | D11 candidate committees | campaign contribution | 2023 and 2025 | personal political contributions | money, candidate support | TRACER rows | direct | Not Dakota Foundation spending; no coordination claim |
| Dakota Foundation | Parents Challenge | negative / unresolved adjacency | 2020-2024 filing screen; 2026 site capture | no direct grant / PRI / contract found in bounded screen | none supported | no direct row found | unresolved / negative bounded check | Does not rule out older, indirect, routed, or differently named support |
$200,000 seed awards unless a funding-source document is retrieved.Legacy Foundation wording in the 2019 Dakota article as a verified separate entity.$50,000 Legacy Institute grant as Promise for All seed funding without a grant-purpose document or Legacy-side restriction record.COSI) documentation for the reported $1.6 million program.$50,000 Legacy Institute education grant.