Waterbury native Maurice B. Mosley is a retired Superior Court Judge for the New Haven District where he handled child protection and delinquency matters. Before he joined the bench, Maurice was counsel to the City of Waterbury’s Department of Education. For many years, he’s been well-known in Waterbury as an educator and mentor for urban students—work that reflects his passion for helping students overcome barriers and find opportunity through education. In 1992, Maurice and his brother Ernest founded Granville Academy, an after-school program designed to provide Waterbury students with finance and entrepreneurial skills. Over 90 percent of Granville Academy graduates go on to pursue higher education.

Thirty years ago, Maurice met Ingrid Manning, the former CEO of Connecticut Community Foundation, and her passion and mission inspired him. He realized that the Foundation’s priorities mirrored his personal mission: to build a better and more vibrant Waterbury community by inspiring students to seek higher education. Maurice reflects, “God has blessed me beyond my imagination. I want to be remembered as someone who tried to be a blessing to others.” He is doing so through a legacy fund he has established through the Foundation, which will be designated to benefit Grace Baptist Church in Waterbury for its scholarship program, benefiting student members of the congregation. Maurice hopes that some students he supports through his fund will return after graduating college and be role models for others. His objective for the future is to continue collaborating with the Foundation during his lifetime and beyond to eliminate barriers so all students have the opportunity to utilize their gifts and talents.

He notes, “Preparing urban students for higher education so they can make our city, state, and country more competitive, expand our Gross National Product (GNP) and make the pie bigger for everyone is my ultimate goal.”