A girl from New York who fell in love in Hawai’i and moved to the Estes Valley has been named to the 2025 Colorado Governor’s Fellowship.
In a nutshell, that is Cato Kraft’s story, but there’s much more. If you’ve ever met Kraft, you are welcomed with a warm smile, a kind voice, rosy-pink cheeks, and an unabashed passion for nonprofit work.
Executive Director of the Estes Nonprofit Network since 2021, Kraft will join with a cohort of 30 mid- and senior-level career professionals over the next 10 months for a fellowship that Kraft says emphasizes a “we over me” philosophy of leadership.
Funded in part through the Boettcher Foundation, the program is recognized as the state’s premier community leadership development organization. Begun in 2016 and operated in partnership with the leadership incubator CiviCo, the Governor’s Fellowship, which now has 300 graduates from around Colorado, provides participants with opportunities to work on real-time public policy projects with government entities, faculty from University of Colorado-Denver School of Public Affairs, and cabinet-level or senior administration officials in state offices.
Growing up and during her college years, Kraft lived on the east coast—Warwick, NY, Long Island, Vermont. She moved to Vail for four years, then to the Big Island of Hawaii to embrace what she calls her “sabbatical from life.”
She had a series of gig jobs. She worked at a kids ski school, and as a preschool teacher and nature camp counselor. She helped run a small national camp company, work-traded on farms, and did a stint with a manta ray ocean tour company doing night snorkels. She even ran her own freelance graphic design, social media management, and event promotion business.
In 20217, while living in Hawai’i, she met Denali Lawson who was on a two-week vacation from Estes Park. After a whirlwind romance, she decided to follow him back to Colorado. “He brought home the best souvenir—me!” says Kraft confidently. The couple bought a house in Glen Haven in 2020 and married in 2022.
She got a job as the program director for the Estes Valley Crisis Advocates and then the opportunity to work for the Estes Park Nonprofit Resource Center opened up. In 2024, under her leadership, the organization rebranded last year as the Estes Nonprofit Network, an organization that provides education, resources, and collaboration opportunities for the nearly 100 nonprofit organizations in the Estes Valley.
“Volunteering with nonprofits has always been a thread running through my life. The nonprofit community in Estes Park stole my heart. It’s what made me fall in love with this town and ignited my passion for nonprofits as a whole. Nonprofits are truly the lifeblood of this valley—they fill the gaps, solve the problems, and make life here better for everyone,” said Kraft.
The Estes Valley is Kraft’s home, but she calls Hawai’i became my soul-place.” From the moment I arrived, it felt as though my spirit had found a home. Yet, truly loving Hawai’i means carrying an understanding of its history and the responsibility that comes with it.”
Kraft is conscious of her status as a white person in relation to the history, culture, and kingdom of Hawai’I which she says was wrongfully taken from its Native and Indigenous people. “It is a loss that continues to echo today in the depletion of resources, unethical tourism, vacant vacation homes, and the commercialization of an entire culture. Loving Hawai’i isn’t about romanticizing its beauty, it’s about actively respecting its people, its history, and its future.”
“I feel a deep responsibility as someone who has benefited from the ‘āina (land) to advocate for its preservation and ensure that Indigenous voices and landscapes are protected. That includes supporting local communities, acknowledging the impact of my identity in a place that is not, and will never be, mine, and striving to do better every day. My journey into equity work is rooted in this understanding—a continuous process of learning, humility, and commitment to showing up in the right ways,” said Kraft.
Kraft holds that same respect for the land, its history and the people of the Estes Valley community. “We’ve grown to cherish our neighbors and the deep sense of connection that comes with calling this place home,” said Kraft.
She calls her role at the Estes Nonprofit Network a dream job. “No two days are ever the same, and I get to be a professional fan-girl for the amazing nonprofits and people who make this community tick. I work alongside an incredible team of brilliant, passionate, and genuinely hilarious individuals. To have reached a career milestone that many people don’t see until their 50s feels like both an honor and a pinch-me moment. Being in this role, in this town, surrounded by the people I care about, feels like a dream realized,” said Kraft.
Northern Colorado’s 40 Under 40 and 30 Under 30 awards,
Named one of NoCo’s 40 under Forty in 2022 and 30 under Thirty in 2023, Kraft hopes 10 years from now to “indulge in another ‘sabbatical from life’ moment—a break from the nonprofit world to just exist, breathe, and spend long, unhurried days splashing in the ocean.”
In the meantime, she is committed to leaning into the work of promoting and supporting the community’s nonprofit organizations. “For now, I’m happily here—fully present, deeply grateful, and loving every moment of this chapter.”
The first session of the Governor’s Fellowship will be Jan. 23-24 in Denver. The program will include five two-day in-person sessions between January and September, online peer advisory sessions, and individual coursework. The graduation will take place in October.