(Left to Right) Hedy Ayers, incoming Director of Development and Advancement with Kathy Taylor, President and CEO, and Cynthia Merrick, Director of Development. 

 

A Message from Kathy Taylor:

Dear Friends and Partners, 

I am so excited to share the appointment of Hedy Ayers as Connecticut Community Foundation’s Director of Development and Advancement, effective October 1, 2026. 

Hedy is not new to this community, and she is not new to this Foundation. For the past several years, she has served as Director of Development and Community Engagement at Waterbury Promise, where she has been a trusted partner in our shared work of strengthening Greater Waterbury. Before that, she spent nearly four years on Eversource Energy’s Community Relations team, working alongside municipal, business, and nonprofit leaders across our region. And for more than two decades, she served as a leader at the Capitol Region Council of Governments, Connecticut’s largest regional planning agency where she built her reputation as a strategic, relationship-driven professional with a deep commitment to equitable and vibrant communities. 

Hedy brings thirty years of experience in strategic planning, program implementation, grant writing, partnership development, fundraising, and community engagement to this role. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College, a master’s in public  affairs from the University of Connecticut, and she is a graduate of Leadership Greater Hartford’s Quest program. 

What makes Hedy’s appointment especially meaningful is the continuity she brings. She knows our community. She knows the Foundation’s work. And she arrives ready to build on the extraordinary foundation that our outgoing Director of Development, Cindy, has spent years constructing. Cindy will remain with us, as a Special Advisor, Development, through her retirement on December 31, ensuring a thoughtful and well-supported transition. 

We are grateful beyond measure for Cindy’s years of dedicated service, and we are equally excited about the chapter Hedy will help us write. 

Please join me in welcoming Hedy Ayers to the Connecticut Community Foundation family.  

Warmly,

Kathy Taylor
President and CEO
Connecticut Community Foundation

From Hedy Ayers:

“I am absolutely thrilled to join Connecticut Community Foundation as its Director of Development and Advancement. This region holds a very special place in my heart and I am excited to work closely with the Foundation’s dedicated and passionate team (who I know and love), our generous donors and dedicated partners, to address a wide range of community needs and priorities. I have often been inspired by the tremendous giving spirit that is woven into the fabric of this corner of the world and look forward to working together to ensure that our residents have what they need to thrive—today and into the future!”