PEAK
EDUCATION'S
STORY
Celebrating 25 years of impact, Peak Education is driven by the belief that every student deserves the opportunity to thrive, providing college and career support, skill-building and resiliency curriculum, mentorship, scholarships, and community engagement. Or as our founders used to say "To Keep Talent From Being Wasted."
Peak Education
TRAILBLAZERS
Established 1999
Driven by a desire to invest in a cause that would create lasting change, Dr. H. Dalton Conner, a periodontal surgeon, and attorney Steven U. Mullens were searching for a way to make a meaningful impact in their community. In 1997, tragedy struck the Harrison School District when a drive-by shooting took the lives of two students and led to the incarceration of two others. This heartbreaking event became the moment of clarity—they knew where their efforts were needed most.
​
Determined to turn pain into purpose, Dalton and Steve set out to create a program that would uplift students in southeastern Colorado Springs. Their vision took shape through a partnership with Rick Price, then-principal of Carmel Middle School, whose leadership and deep understanding of student needs helped lay the groundwork for Peak Education. Together, they built a program dedicated to mentorship, support, and educational opportunities, ensuring students had the tools to break down barriers and shape their own futures.
​
What started as a shared commitment to change has grown into a lasting movement—one that continues to empower, uplift, and transform the lives of students for generations to come.
Initially conceived as a scholarship-based incentive program, over more than two decades Peak Education has evolved into a mentoring and college access organization that provides long-term engagement with students and families focused on four strategies for success: developing college and career readiness, building students’ capacity for leadership, fostering full family engagement in their students’ journeys, and creating broad-based community connections.
