Empathic Strategy and Project Management
Surpassing Distinction specializes in partnering with Colorado-based organizations in the education, public, and nonprofit sectors. Our team offers a spectrum of services based on the challenge level. The diagram below showcases how the level of work directly corresponds to the level of the challenge.
About Us
In 2017, Surpassing Distinction was founded by Daniel Archuleta (who holds an MBA in Strategic Management, was a co-founder of a nonprofit supporting the success of students with disabilities, and is the former Manager of Strategy and Accountability at Adams 14) as a limited liability company to promote his independent work serving Colorado students through contracts with Adams 14, Denver Public Schools, and the Colorado Association of School Executives. His work grew into serving Colorado youth more broadly and holistically through contracts with two collective impact organizations, Rocky Mountain Partnership and Denver Metro Community Impact, where he was hired as the Data Director and Director of Operations, respectively. As his network and impact expanded, his vision for Surpassing Distinction grew as well.
In 2023, Surpassing Distinction was awarded a six-figure, six-month, sole-source contract to manage an urban school district's concerningly low and declining enrollments project. Surpassing Distinction has undergone an operational expansion and is now fully equipped to partner on large-scale projects.
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We contract with highly skilled and experienced professionals who are intentionally paired with your organization, based on the project requirements, to deliver the highest quality solutions.
Our Work
Our Mission is to make a lasting, positive impact in addressing complex systems of oppression by partnering with organizations who are committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Our Vision is to be a globally-recognized organization known to bring lasting, positive change in communities by cultivating empathic relationships between public education, public, nonprofit, and for-profit partners.
Surpassing Distinction is uniquely positioned to partner with your organization because of our specialized skills in data, research, pk-12 public education, nonprofit management, collective impact, project management, strategic management, engagement through dialectical models, and our vast network of subject-matter experts across multiple sectors and knowledge domains.
Current Work
Our vision is to eventually create a collaboratively developed, statewide system to meet the unique and comprehensive challenges our neighbors and schools face with declining enrollment caused by population shifts. The concept applies an evidence-based, community-impact model that lifts community voice, incentivizes district participation, and funnels resources into affected communities to mitigate the negative impacts of the shifts, which can result in school closures and rapid community decline.
At its essence, it is an economic stimulus process where population shifts and declining enrollment are factors in community identification.
Data-informed decision-making is one of our operational tenets. To illustrate how declining enrollment is a state-wide issue, we have created an interactive dashboard. Click the image below to interact with a heat map of Colorado population shifts of 5-19 year-olds, overlaid with school district boundaries (second tab).
Our Clients
Surpassing Distinction connects the present to the future through Empathic Strategy and Project Management. Since 2017, we have partnered with several organizations on high-profile projects, including:
- Adams County School District 14
- Colorado Association of School Executives
- Adams County Youth Initiative/Rocky Mountain Partnership
- Park Hill Collective Impact/Denver Metro Community Impact
- Denver Public Schools
Dr. Lisa Escárcega, former Executive Director of the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE)
Let's Talk
We pride ourselves on our strategic thought partnership, not pushy sales. If you are ready to partner with a mission-centered organization who genuinely wants to support your success, then call or email us today to have a high-level conversation, free of any obligations.
EMAIL: Info@SurpassingDistinction.com
PHONE: 303-726-5262
Surpassing Distinction, LLC is located in the Denver metro area.
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