Our Foundation
For over twenty-five years, the Westside Alumni Foundation has united graduates in a shared mission: expanding educational opportunity and building pathways to professional success for every student who walks through Westside's doors.
How It All Began
The Westside Alumni Foundation traces its origins to a warm September evening in 1998, when forty-seven members of Westside High School's Class of 1978 gathered at the historic Lakewood Country Club to celebrate their twentieth reunion. Over dinner and shared memories, the conversation turned to the challenges facing current Westside students: rising tuition costs, shrinking state education budgets, and the widening gap between affluent suburban schools and the Westside Unified School District's predominantly working-class communities.
Dr. Margaret Holloway, a pediatrician who had built her career just blocks from the school where she once dissected her first frog in ninth-grade biology, stood up and proposed a simple but powerful idea: what if every alumni class pooled even a modest annual contribution into a permanent scholarship endowment? The response was immediate and enthusiastic. By the end of the evening, the reunion attendees had pledged over $18,000 in seed funding. Within six months, Margaret and fellow classmates Richard Castellano, a commercial real estate attorney, and Patricia Huang, a certified public accountant, had filed articles of incorporation with the Colorado Secretary of State and secured 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.
The Westside Alumni Foundation was formally chartered on March 14, 1998, with a founding board of seven trustees and a clear, enduring mandate: to ensure that financial circumstance never prevents a talented Westside graduate from pursuing higher education or professional certification. From that initial $18,000 seed, the foundation has grown into a $2.8 million endowment that awards scholarships, funds career mentorship programs, and invests directly in Westside district school improvements each year.
Mission, Vision & Values
Our Mission
To advance educational equity and professional opportunity for graduates and students of the Westside Unified School District through merit-based scholarships, need-based financial assistance, career mentorship networks, and strategic community investment partnerships.
Our Vision
A community where every Westside graduate possesses the financial resources, professional guidance, and alumni support network necessary to achieve their fullest academic and career potential, regardless of socioeconomic background.
Our Core Values
- Educational Equity: We believe talent is universal but opportunity is not. Our programs are designed to close the gap between potential and access, ensuring that financial barriers never determine a student's trajectory.
- Transparency & Accountability: As stewards of donor generosity, we maintain rigorous financial oversight, publish annual IRS 990 filings, and undergo independent third-party audits to ensure every dollar reaches its intended purpose.
- Community Reciprocity: The alumni who benefited from Westside's public education system have a meaningful opportunity to reinvest in the next generation. We foster a culture of giving back that strengthens the entire community fabric.
- Inclusive Excellence: Our scholarship and mentorship programs serve students across all academic disciplines, career pathways, and life stages, including traditional college-bound seniors, returning adult learners, skilled trades apprentices, and graduate researchers.
- Lifelong Connection: Graduation is not an ending but a beginning. Our alumni network creates lasting professional relationships, career advancement opportunities, and meaningful civic engagement that spans decades.
Foundation Milestones
Key moments in our twenty-five year history of service to the Westside community.
Board of Trustees
Our volunteer board members bring decades of professional expertise and a shared commitment to the Westside community.
Dr. Margaret Holloway
Board Chair & Co-Founder
Founding trustee and board chair since 1998. Dr. Holloway is a board-certified pediatrician at Rocky Mountain Children's Medical Group and a 1978 Westside graduate. She holds an M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed her residency at Children's Hospital Colorado.
Richard Castellano, Esq.
Vice Chair & Co-Founder
Co-founding trustee and managing partner at Castellano, Reeves & Associates, a Denver commercial real estate law firm. Richard oversees the foundation's legal compliance, endowment governance, and planned giving program. Westside Class of 1978. J.D., University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
Patricia Huang, CPA
Treasurer & Co-Founder
Co-founding trustee responsible for financial oversight, annual audit coordination, and IRS 990 filing compliance. Patricia is a senior partner at Huang & Associates CPAs and serves on the Colorado Society of CPAs Non-Profit Advisory Committee. Westside Class of 1978.
Dr. James Okonkwo
Scholarship Committee Chair
Associate Professor of Educational Policy at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Dr. Okonkwo chairs the scholarship selection committee and leads the foundation's educational equity research initiatives. Westside Class of 1992. Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sandra Reeves-Mitchell
Alumni Relations Director
Retired principal of Westside High School with thirty-one years of service in the Westside Unified School District. Sandra manages alumni outreach, chapter coordination, and the annual Homecoming Gala. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado.
Michael Torres
Development & Corporate Partnerships
Vice President of Community Engagement at Front Range Federal Credit Union. Michael leads corporate matching gift partnerships, employer-sponsored scholarship programs, and the foundation's annual fundraising campaigns. Westside Class of 2001. M.B.A., Colorado State University.
Financial Transparency & Accountability
The Westside Alumni Foundation is committed to the highest standards of nonprofit financial stewardship. We believe that donors, alumni, and community stakeholders deserve complete visibility into how their contributions are allocated, invested, and distributed.
Independent Audits
Our financial statements are audited annually by an independent certified public accounting firm in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for nonprofit organizations. Audit reports are available upon request from our Treasurer's office.
IRS Form 990 Public Disclosure
As a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (EIN: 47-2918304), we file IRS Form 990 annually. These filings are publicly available through GuideStar and the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search portal. Copies may also be requested directly from our foundation office at 1847 Westside Parkway, Suite 305, Denver, CO 80204.
Fund Allocation
In our most recent fiscal year, 84.2% of all expenditures were directed to program services (scholarships, mentorship, and community investment), 9.8% to fundraising activities, and 6.0% to administrative operations. This allocation meets or exceeds the benchmarks recommended by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator's four-star efficiency criteria.
Foundation Bylaws
The foundation's governing bylaws, most recently amended in September 2024, establish the policies for board governance, trustee elections, scholarship award procedures, endowment investment guidelines, and conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements. A complete copy of the current bylaws is available upon written request to the Board Secretary.