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.
