Dear Partners and Friends of Connecticut Community Foundation,
After nearly a decade at Connecticut Community Foundation, I write to share the news that I will be stepping down as President and CEO in June 2024.
I remain deeply committed to the mission of the Foundation, incredibly proud of our work, and ready to devote my energies to pushing us further down our path in the coming months. But, for personal reasons, I seek a new balance that will enable me to focus on the evolving needs of my family over the coming years. Because it is crucial that the community foundation has a leader who can put 100% toward the organization’s mission and priorities, it’s time for me to hand over the mantle so that the Foundation and I can both begin our next chapters.
In my nearly 10 years at the Foundation—six as CEO—I have seen considerable growth and evolution in our organization and the community we serve in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills. While traditional measures like the expansion of assets held or grants and scholarships distributed can serve as proxies for progress, the real change I have witnessed has been more moving, more profound, and more impactful than monetary measures can convey.
I have been privileged to work with an immensely talented and inspiring staff and a thoughtful and committed board of trustees. Together, we have faced the clear disparities in outcomes and access in our community, we have looked inward to articulate our organizational values, and we have applied what we have learned to center racial equity in our efforts and to reconsider how we approach all aspects of our work so that we effectively pursue our mission of fostering an equitable and inclusive community throughout the region we serve.
While our staff and leadership have embraced responsibility for moving our work forward and being accountable to the community we serve, progress and change to meet our current moment would not have happened without the insights and support of scores of partners, stakeholders, and allies, including nonprofit organizations, volunteers, community leaders, and donors. I am grateful to all of you for linking arms with Connecticut Community Foundation over the years to move forward in strength together.
As I look to the coming eight months, I feel confident about where we are and where we are headed, and I am committed to making sure that the next person in my seat will be well positioned to move the Foundation forward in partnership with the community. To identify that person, our board of trustees has formed a Transition Committee and has engaged Koya Partners to lead the search for a new CEO. Inquiries about the search may be directed to Erin Reedy at Koya Partners via email: CCFCEO@koyapartners.com.
It has been the greatest privilege of my career to be part of Connecticut Community Foundation. Thank you to all who have shared your ideas, passions, time, resources, energy, and kindness with the Foundation and with me during my tenure. May we all continue to envision and to work toward realizing an equitable, inclusive, just and vibrant community in which all who live here have what they need to thrive.
With deep appreciation,
