On July 24th, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, Colorado, will host the “Green Industry Affair“, a special gathering of conservation groups, outdoor retailers, and cannabis companies who plan to work together to address and combat global warming. Featuring a performance from the psychedelic electronic act BoomBox, the night combines live music with philanthropy—a venture that event organizers Hilary Gleason and Tory Pittarelli know well.

Two friends deeply entrenched within the music scene, Gleason and Pittarelli recently embarked on a new mission to leverage the relationships they’ve made in live music and use them to benefit the greater good. In 2017, Gleason launched level—a philanthropic consulting firm that helps businesses and bands connect with meaningful charity initiatives—quickly signing on Pittarelli as an event producer.

level’s mission is simple. The organization works with their clients, determining what humanitarian issues are most important to them, then doing the heavy-lifting and taking the guesswork out of connecting a given organization to relevant non-profits and helping them get involved. From there, level coordinates with the company and the charity, playing to the company or artist’s strengths and using the client’s resources to build customized long-term non-profit campaigns with a lasting impact.

As Hilary Gleason noted, “We have been amazed by the support of our community through this whole endeavor. You have to find out what you’re passionate about, what resources you have, and who you can lean on. Use that to make a difference.”

Both women are well suited to lead an innovative organization like level. Gleason has a strong background in humanitarian endeavors. At 17 years old, Gleason helped form a neurosurgical partnership between Duke Hospital and Kampala, Uganda’s Mulago National Referral Hospital, helping to grow the medical program with bi-annual trips to Africa with a team from Duke. Over the years, she’s continued to be invested in international development issues, working with both Barbara Pierce Bush’s Global Health Corps and the United Nations Foundation.

Pittarelli, on the other hand, has been working in event production for most of her adult life. Her successful startup, The Mischief Collective, combines her love of silversmithing with live music, serving as a music blog, online jewelry shop, and home base for an ever-growing community of similarly minded music lovers. While The Mischief Collective frequently leads fundraising endeavors for important causes, Pittarelli brings a deep knowledge of event planning, having worked with Colorado’s ARISE Music Festival and Envision Festival, and a laundry list of fan-favorite regional artists.

While longstanding friends, Gleason and Pittarelli first worked together at the world-renowned Global Citizen Festival, a 60,000-person music festival in New York City’s Central Park that boasted headlining performances by Beyonce and Pearl Jam and speeches from former First Lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani activist and youngest Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. From there, the seed was planted, with the two women continuing to find opportunities to merge activism with music in their home of Colorado.

In the time since, Hilary Gleason, Tory Pittarelli, and level have remained busy, consistently organizing events—like the upcoming Green Industry Affair—to benefit specific charities and leading campaigns. For their first event, the ACLUstic Brunch, the pair raised funds for the ACLU through a special acoustic brunch show, which saw performances from Elephant Revival‘s Bridget Law paired with seminars from well-known civil rights lawyer Faisal Salahuddin, a partner at Frank & Salahuddin LLC who serves as affiliate counsel with the ACLU of Colorado.

The ACLUstic Brunch opened the door for the pair’s numerous other benefits like the bluegrass-oriented Corduroy Classic, benefiting victims of the brutal hurricanes at the end of 2017, and leading Colorado Earth Day, which took place on the steps of Colorado’s capitol building and benefitted the Sierra Club. level has also worked with funk juggernauts Lettuce and music-focused voter registration group HeadCount for the recent “Participate Tour” and coordinated with British jazz-and-funk-fusion group, The New Mastersounds, to connect them with Denver’s Urban Peak, which provides aid to Colorado youths experiencing homelessness.

As Tory Pittarelli explained to us,

Anyone that has worked in the nonprofit world knows that some days the work can be soul-crushing, plain and simple. And some days you get to work and you question yourself, and you question why you’re doing what you’re doing. But then when the big event day rolls around, there’s no feeling quite like it, and you remember why—for the unbeatable feeling of being able to make a difference, no matter how small, for a cause that matters.

level’s upcoming “Green Industry Affair” at Cervantes’ on July 24th was born out of the duo’s past event, the Colorado Carbon Fundraiser, which featured The Infamous Stringdusters’ Travis Book and Greensky Bluegrass’ Anders Beck as headliners. The event raised thousands of dollars for the state’s official carbon-offsetting program and provided guests the opportunity to offset their homes and vehicles. After the successful inaugural launch, for 2018, level sought out a new partnership with the world’s first cannabis marketing agency, rebranding the event to the Green Industry Affair and expanding to target outdoor retailers and cannabis companies in addition to signing on conservation groups.

Given their extensive resumes and past work, it’s clear that Hilary Gleason and Tory Pittarelli are doers. Though in their late 20s, the two have carved out successful professional lives for themselves that highlight both women’s passion for live music and giving back. Thanks for all you ladies are doing for the music community and beyond. To learn more about level, head here.

You can support Gleason, Pittarelli, and level’s work for yourself on Tuesday, July 24th, at Cervantes’, when the two women host the Green Industry Affair featuring performances by BoomBox and Mikey Thunder. Tickets are currently available here, with a limited-ticket option to upgrade to VIP and with the first 20 purchases receiving an exclusive artist meet and greet.