Connecticut Urban Opportunity Collaborative

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is working closely with our partners across Connecticut to help dismantle structural and systemic racism and achieve equity in social and economic mobility in our communities.

An Aligned Network

The Community Foundation — along with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving — recently formed the Connecticut Urban Opportunity Collaborative (CUOC).

This aligned effort is part of Nexus for Equity + Opportunity Nationwide (NEON), a cohort of U.S. community foundations who are working to attract private foundation and individual donations to support effective models for dismantling systemic racism.

To support this ambitious effort, the three foundations hired Cesar Aleman to serve as CUOC’s director. In this role, Cesar is coordinating a team that includes the chief executives and senior staff at each foundation to:

• Develop collective strategies to dismantle structural racism and advance social and economic mobility.

• Create an actionable plan that builds on each foundation’s individual strengths.

• Build a broad network of relationships with national, regional and local partners.

• Manage collaborative investments and develop and distribute grants.

By working together, the three community foundations have a big goal: to write a new chapter in philanthropy in Connecticut that will expand opportunities to everyone.