Kathy Taylor
Kathy Taylor was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Connecticut Community Foundation in June 2024. She is only the fourth CEO in the Foundation’s 101-year history. Kathy joined the Foundation in 2013, volunteering on the Foundation’s scholarship committee, served on the board from 2016 through 2022, and become board chair in February 2020.
As former Board Chair of the Connecticut Community Foundation, Kathy successfully chaired the Strategic Planning Committee which resulted in an unanimously adopted plan that set forth articulated values and priorities for the Foundation’s philanthropic grantmaking and envisioned a more equitable and inclusive Greater Waterbury and Litchfield Hills. Kathy was instrumental in the Foundation’s adoption of a racial equity plan which specifically articulated the need to pursue equitable and just outcomes aimed at reducing demonstrated and well-researched racial disparities within our service region. During her tenure, Kathy also worked to raise awareness among philanthropically-minded people throughout Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills and was a founding member of both the Women’s Giving Circle and the Waterbury Black Giving Circle.
Kathy spent seventeen years as a legal professor at Connecticut State Community College, Naugatuck Valley where the soil of her professional Higher Ed career was rich in student outcomes, community experience, federal grant management, and service to faculty. With years of experience navigating students, staff, faculty, community stakeholders, and administration, Kathy honed her advocacy skills in defending the rights of community college students to be seen as whole, valuable, and worthy of support, her networking skills to convene stakeholders around a common concern in order to find a workable, beneficial solution for all, her operational leadership by effectively developing budgets and staying within them to reach articulated goals and outcomes, as well as her strategic planning skills that shaped the college’s mission, vision, and priorities for over a decade.
For nine years, Kathy also operated her own consulting practice, partnering with visionary educational, non-profit, and corporate leaders, guiding organizational learning journeys. Her facilitation specifically focused on encouraging all to challenge assumptions, uncover and reflect upon hidden biases, evaluate current practices and policies considering new learning, and think deeply about aligning values and vision with everyday practice. Using an inquiry lens and her signature interactive style, Kathy empowered and encouraged the purposeful construction of spaces that were more inclusive, richer, and more equitable.
And it all started at Hampton University where she earned her B.A. in Psychology before receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Licensed to practice in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Kathy enjoys her work, and her impact earned her Connecticut’s Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Future Leaders (she has since aged out of that category!)
Married to her college sweetheart, Kevin, Kathy is the mother of three – Michael, Jonathan, and Elise. A tireless advocate for her community, Kathy lives and breathes the motto, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
Favorite Experience in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills
As a Philly Girl, I love the rolling hills and valleys in our region. New England is simply beautiful, and I have a real appreciation for our warm summer days and cool nights. As a child of the 1980s when television was rich and classic, Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills seem a little like Cheers, where everyone knows your name. For this extrovert, I love it!
Ask Kathy about
Her latest trip to the city, her extensive scrapbook collection, the books on her nightstand waiting to be read and enjoyed, and all the ways you can use your talents, time, and treasure to support the work of Connecticut Community Foundation!