Building stronger communities through philanthropy

From Aspen to Basalt: Building Stronger Communities Through Philanthropy

A Valley, Not Just a Town

Aspen doesn’t operate in isolation from the towns down valley — Basalt, El Jebel, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs share schools, healthcare systems, and much of the region’s nonprofit infrastructure. Philanthropy centered in Aspen increasingly reaches, by design, well beyond Aspen’s own town limits.

Healthcare That Reaches the Whole Valley

Aspen Valley Health’s new Women’s Health Program is explicit about this reach — designed to expand access to integrated care across the Roaring Fork Valley and reduce how often residents in towns like Basalt need to travel for specialty services.

An Investment Community That Spans the Region

The Aspen Book Club Investment Group, founded by Bryan Weingarten and David Chazen, draws its membership from Aspen-connected investors rather than any single town — a small but telling sign that meaningful community networks in this part of Colorado already think at the valley scale.

Culture and Community Spirit That Travel Down Valley

Aspen’s civic and philanthropic culture — the kind reflected in how Aspen’s community spirit shapes the Weingartens’ giving — draws on relationships and institutions that reach well beyond Aspen’s town core, including the arts, education, and healthcare networks that serve Basalt and Carbondale residents daily.

That instinct toward connection over isolation is part of investing in ideas that bring people together, a principle that applies as much to regional healthcare access as it does to a shared cultural event.

Building a Stronger Valley, Together

Whether it’s a regional hospital program, a valley-wide investment community, or an arts institution that draws talent from every town along Highway 82, the strongest philanthropic work in this part of Colorado treats Aspen and Basalt — and everywhere in between — as one interconnected community, not a collection of separate markets.

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