Events
Womens Giving Circle Kick Off 2022
October 27, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
After two years of meeting virtually, we’re so excited to welcome you back in person for an exciting, new year of the Women’s Giving Circle at Connecticut Community Foundation!
Join us to connect, inspire and amplify opportunities for women and girls at our Annual Kickoff Event! This year’s theme will focus on “Women’s Health Across Generations.”
Thursday, October 27, 2022 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Naugatuck Valley Community College—Founders Hall
Light dinner and drinks
This is a free event. Bring a friend!
In conversation moderated by Dr. Beatriz Olson, featured guests Dr. Rebecca Eleck Bruce, family physician and medical director of Wheeler Health and Angie Matthis, executive director of Greater Waterbury Health Partnership will explore pressing topics, challenges and opportunities relating to the health of women and girls in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills during a fireside chat. You don’t want to miss it!
Make an impact! Join or renew your participation in the Women’s Giving Circle.
About the speakers:
Dr. Rebecca Eleck Bruce is a family physician and the medical director for Wheeler Health where she supervises medical providers in four federally-qualified community health center locations; she sees patients herself in all four locations. Dr. Bruce provides routine primary care to patients of all ages, prescribes medication-assisted treatment for substance abuse disorders, treats HIV and Hepatitis C, and prescribes gender-affirming hormones. She serves as a trustee of Connecticut Community Foundation, where she chairs the Health and Environmental Justice Grant Committee. Dr. Bruce also volunteers with the Greater Waterbury YMCA and sometimes teaches yoga at YMCA Camp Mataucha. Dr. Bruce has worked for and with nonprofits in Haiti, Guatemala, and Honduras and is passionate about initiatives that extend health care to all.
Angie Matthis brings over 18 years of experience in community health and wellness to the Greater Waterbury Health Partnership. GWHP is an innovative collaborative nonprofit partnership between hospitals, health departments and districts, community health centers and community organizations. Appointed as Executive Director of the Partnership in 2019, Angie has grown the organization from a team of 1.5 staff to 16 full time staff. Under her direction and funding awards, GWHP’s operating budget went from a modest 125K to over 1 million dollars in just 3 years. Angie manages all fiscal oversight of the Partnership: grant writing, contracts, reporting and program implementation, strategic planning and initiatives and the Community Health Needs Assessment.
About the Moderator:
Dr. Beatriz Olson has been a catalyst and champion of integrative medicine for decades. She is a superbly trained-expert in both academic medicine and mind body health. Dr. Olson is board-certified in the fields of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes and Internal Medicine, and has certifications in Age Management Medicine and Feminine Power Transformational Leadership. She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; both her internship and residency in internal medicine and research-clinical fellowship in Endocrinology were at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Olson has authored numerous basic science and clinical articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to chapters on various medical texts on nutrition, women’s endocrine wellness and thyroid. She came to America from Cuba as a political refugee when she was a teen. She lives with her husband in Connecticut.
Connecticut Community Foundation recognizes the value of being together in community. The Foundation also recognizes there are risks involved with in-person events. The health and safety of all attendees is a shared responsibility of the Foundation, our partners, and ultimately each attendee. By registering to attend an event in person, you acknowledge the risk associated with attending the event and agree to follow all health and safety protocols set by the Foundation. Please read our full participation expectations for all in-person event attendees carefully.
