On behalf of our boards, staff, and community, we commemorate Malaika Pettigrew, whose remarkable spirit, compassion, presence, and ideas helped to shape the course of Greenhouse Scholars during the organization’s critical early years.

Malaika and her husband Andre were among seven individuals who formed the inaugural governing board of directors when Greenhouse Scholars was first launched in 2005.

Malaika has supported Greenhouse Scholars for fifteen consecutive years. She shared her experience and insights directly with our Scholars as a mentor and a Summer Symposium speaker. She introduced dozens of other individuals and encouraged them to get involved, including some of our first supporters in North Carolina. She and Andre have donated to Greenhouse Scholars every single year.

Please join us in honoring Malaika by reading about her life and her legacy below.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Burridge
President and CEO

From The Pettigrew Family:

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of the beloved Malaika Pettigrew, 66, on August 3, 2020 at her home in Durham, NC. Malaika was surrounded by her immediate family at home, surrounded by love.

Malaika was born in Saint Louis, Missouri to the late Lawrence Ralph Stanton and Mary Delores Allen Stanton. Malaika is survived by her husband, Andre Pettigrew, her daughters, Maya Pettigrew Foster and husband Donovan, and Naima Nicole Pettigrew, her son, Jason Jamal Pettigrew and partner David Nimmo, her grandchild, Miles Donovan Foster, as well as her brothers, Lawrence Stanton, Eric Stanton, Reginald Stanton, and sisters, Pamela Pittman and husband Walter, Laura Charity, Deborah Stanton, and Janis Stanton.

Malaika, Swahili for Angel, dedicated her life to the service of others no matter where she was. She was multitalented and worked as a Life Coach, Energy Healer and Dance Movement Instructor. Malaika and her husband Andre Pettigrew shared 45 years of loving marriage together. During that time they lived in more than a half-dozen cities throughout the United States. Malaika had the unique gift of creating and uplifting communities wherever they landed. An educator for over 35 years, Malaika led groups, facilitated retreats, teaching leadership skills, counseling, coaching and healing for everyone from children to the elderly.

Malaika earned a degree in Psychology at UCLA and went on to earn a Master’s in Transpersonal Counseling from J.F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California. She taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Naropa University for 11 years. Malaika was a founding member of the United Black Women of Boulder Valley, Greenhouse Scholars, and the Institute for African American Leadership. The Institute served countless African American youth throughout the Boulder Valley School District and beyond by providing educational, cultural, and travel exchange opportunities. An archive of her work is stored at the Blair Caldwell Research Library in Denver as well as a few items stored at the Museum of Boulder.

Malaika was committed to uplifting youth and was a firm believer in the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. She indeed created a global village for her children and those who knew her. She also served in leadership roles within many nonprofit community organizations, including the Boulder County Safehouse Shelter for battered women and children, Boulder County YWCA, Boulder Community Action Program, Chinook Fund, The Gandhi Brigade, as well as the Elna B. Spaulding Conflict Resolution Center, and The Movement of Youth mentoring program both based in Durham, North Carolina.

Malaika was a devout and dedicated woman, committed to her love and connection with God. She poured herself into several spiritual communities in Colorado, Maryland, and North Carolina. She received certification as a Minister of Spiritual Healing through the Takoma Park Metaphysical Chapel and became a Certified Reiki Master Practitioner in 2012. She’s a member of the Unity Church of the Triangle.

Aside from her family and God, her next true love was Dance. Anyone who knew Malaika, knew nothing brought her more joy than to move her hips, feet and arms to the rhythm of just about any music. She was particularly fond of Jazz, African, Afro Latinx and Afro Brazilian music and dance. Malaika had the honor and privilege of traveling the world throughout her life. She touched nearly every continent North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, and her beloved Africa where she visited Togo, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.

Malaika was beautiful on the inside and out. Her life and her accomplishments are best remembered in her own words:

“I live each day with an awareness of myself as sacred, compassionate, sensitive and in service to this world. It was the gift of experience, my struggles and successes that now allow me to serve others through wisdom and compassion. It is my commitment to my own spiritual growth and evolution that allows me to know that we all are perfect, whole and complete beings.”

The family will hold a digital service to accommodate all family and friends near and far. A date will be announced soon.

Dear Greenhouse Scholars Community,

I want to begin by expressing our solidarity with the individuals, families, and communities of color who continue to be victimized unjustly. We remain hopeful that our country and the world will continue to evolve and progress to a place where the sort of violence that happened this past week is eradicated from our society. While every voice in support of changing this is important, more important are our actions and solutions.

Our vision is “to create a community of leaders who will evolve the communities of the world.” For me, this resonates strongly these past several days. Our work has never been more urgent and important. 

The outcome of our work is to enable hope, opportunity, and belief to thrive in every community. We believe everyone in our society should be able to live the life of their choosing. One of the underpinnings of our goals and aspirations is to bring together a diverse community of people to work together to create lasting change across communities. We must have people from all walks of life come together and unite in a manner that cannot be ignored or set aside for another time and place.

We refute and stand firmly against any approach that meets violence and victimization with violence. We must find a way for times like these to bring us together, not allow hate and violence to further separate us.

Our society has made meaningful progress on issues of race and inequality.  Our progress is not enough. Now is a time to accelerate solutions, to demand more and faster change. We will continue on our path with renewed vigor. We will continue to work every day to infuse hope, opportunity, and belief into every community. We will continue to put ideas in place that lead to everyone being able to live a life of their choosing. As I write this note I ask myself how I can help more than I have previously, how I can change, how I can implement positive solutions, how I can be the change I want in the world. Maybe everyone has questions and answers for themselves.

Making statements, assuring our voice is counted on the right and just side of history is not enough, not even close. We need more action. We will continue to lead with our actions. We will continue to unite people, to include people, to bring together diverse leaders from across the divides that separate us: socioeconomic, generational, political, ethnic, religious, etc. We will continue to elevate our Scholars’ solutions. We will continue working from within low-income communities to shine a light on some of our country’s most inspiring role models. We will continue educating our donors and supporters about what our Scholars are facing and achieving.  We will continue preparing our Scholars to lead and to have a positive impact. We will continue to promote the power of education to create opportunity and positive community change. 

This is a moment of great sadness, frustration, anger, and disbelief. We must use it to fuel our resolve and our focus on positive, sustained progress. We must not shrink from or confuse the challenge that is in front of us but rise to the occasion – today and every day.

With hope and belief,

Peter M. Burridge
President and CEO

To our Greenhouse Scholars community,

Our supply of resilient, entrepreneurial, and effective leaders is our most critical national resource.  More than stockpiles of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or canned foods, we need leaders at every level and across every industry who are proactive and solutions-oriented in the face of rapid change and uncertainty.

The work we’re doing to support and connect truly extraordinary leaders to one another here at Greenhouse Scholars is more important than ever.  Each of you, from our Scholars to our mentors, staff, volunteers, alumni, corporate and foundation partners, and supporters of every kind – you give me hope and optimism for our shared future.

Consistent with our values of leadership, community, relentlessness, and accountability, our organization is committed to the following:

• We will work harder than ever to over-deliver on your expectations.  That’s especially true for our Scholars who are directly affected by university closures.  We will stay focused, be accountable, and remain communicative and collaborative.  If you perceive that we do not rise to the occasion in any way, we want to know.
• The Greenhouse Scholars program delivers quality services across broad geographies in a highly-customized manner.  Our holistic program components, from mentorship to professional networking, internship, skills modules, impact, and financial support, will continue uninterrupted.
• Every day, we meet with our Scholars and contributors to understand your circumstances, learn from your perspectives, and support your goals.  We will now be sharing excerpts of these conversations more broadly, so we can all stay better connected and informed about one another.  Please ensure that you follow Greenhouse Scholars on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube so you can be included.
• Events are significant for our budget, and we’ve already had to cancel many of our plans.  We are re-forecasting and cutting expenses to ensure we are accountable to you and financially healthy for the long-term.

We are committed to being catalysts for change, and we are in this together.  We have an excellent team, proven results, a fine-tuned program, dedicated supporters, and inspiring stories of success.  We need you, and we need your support, right now.  Please consider not the minimum, but the maximum that you can give to support Greenhouse Scholars at this historic time. 

Sending gratitude and good health,
Andra Pool
Chief Relationship and Community Officer
Greenhouse Scholars

By the year 2020, 74% of jobs in Denver will require a post-secondary degree or certificate. However, less than half of current Denver residents 25 years and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Many young people believe that college is not financially possible or fail to complete their degrees because of financial, social, and academic pressures.

In November 2018, Denver voters passed a dedicated funding stream for college access and success programs through a sales tax increase, thereby creating the Denver College Success Corporation (DCSC).

The DCSC reimburses nonprofits for a percentage of the tuition grants and support services they provide to Denver students. We’re thrilled to see such a positive initiative in a community that means so much to us and honored to qualify as recipients for the funding.