Black History in the Making: Dr. Bianca Shinn-Desras

As a founding member of The SOUL Fund at FCCF, Dr. Bianca Shinn-Desras is shaping the Black history that is still being made in Fairfield County. In honor of Black History Month, we sat down with Dr. Shinn-Desras to find out what inspired her to help launch this new giving circle that directs grants to Black-led and -serving nonprofits—and how everyone who cares about making positive change in our community can be part of this collective action.

From an early age, Dr. Bianca Shinn-Desras learned the importance of giving back to her community.

Born into a Haitian American family, she recalls her parents, Jean Azima and Bienne Shinn, organizing clothing drives and hosting holiday parties for children in need.

They exemplified the power of giving back—a power Shinn-Desras has tapped into throughout her life, most recently as a founding member of The SOUL Fund, an inclusive giving circle aimed at envisioning a better future by supporting leaders of color.

The neighborhood where Shinn-Desras grew up on Stamford’s East Side, in Charter Oaks Communities’ Ursula Place, wasn’t wealthy. But she remembers it as incredibly enriching in other ways.

“It was a giving neighborhood—we poured into each other,” Shinn-Desras said. “Growing up in a Black community, when one of us was down you were taught to put your hand up and help, because you can’t flourish in an environment when any of us are down.”

In addition to seeing the generosity of neighbors, her own parents’ teachings encouraged Shinn-Desras to step into her own power and then use it to help her community to thrive.

“I’m very lucky that my parents instilled in me having Black pride, but I also learned having Black pride wasn’t enough,” said Shinn-Desras. “It is also having Black responsibilities, which is the accountability of helping each other and bringing out Black excellence.”

Planting seeds for deep-rooted change

This unwavering commitment to empowering Black excellence inspired Shinn-Desras to join a planning group with eight other volunteers to launch The SOUL Fund at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation in 2025.

This giving circle dedicated to supporting opportunity and uplifting leadership is built on the principle that an individual’s impact can be amplified by pooling resources and learning together—and then deciding together where to direct grant funding to support nonprofits dedicated to creating positive change with and for the Black community in Fairfield County.

Many of the Black-serving organizations the SOUL Fund prioritizes have historically been overlooked and, as a result, have struggled to secure consistent and adequate funding.

As a gardener, Shinn-Desras relates the work of the SOUL Fund to planting of a seed that will grow and flourish.

“In Haitian Creole there is a tree called the Mapou tree,” she said. “Its roots are so strong that it’s able to sustain whatever challenges that come across it. And with the SOUL Fund the seeds we’ve planted, like the Mapou tree, are for the next decade, if not century.”

An investment in tomorrow’s Black leaders

Shinn-Desras has a daily reminder to look toward the decades ahead.

She serves as director of Family Advocacy Middle Schools (SPS) and After School Programs at Domus, a nonprofit seeking to help young people in Stamford and beyond overcome obstacles and create thriving futures.

“With the work I do, we see through data and research that discipline disparities overwhelmingly impact Black students,” said Shinn-Desras. ”At its core, it is people not recognizing humanity in Blackness.”

She hopes that by inviting everyone in the Fairfield County community to support the SOUL Fund—and learn more about its mission—an ever-broader audience will come to recognize this humanity, and the powerful potential in fostering Black excellence.

“I want this fund to grow so we can pour into our young people who will benefit, and for them to come back and invest into the SOUL Fund that they’ve benefited from, so it becomes this cycle of joy in Black humanity,” she said. “That’s the beauty of the SOUL Fund. It’s rooted in joy, in dignity, and in love for the Black community.”

Make change this Black History Month! Join the SOUL Fund by February 28 and amplify your impact. In addition to becoming a part of this history-making effort, you’ll help us meet our goal of recruiting 25 new members to unlock a $2,500 matching grant through Philanthropy Together.

A minimum donation of $365 is required to become a member, with the option of recurring payments. Annual membership runs from July 1 to June 30, and entitles one individual to one vote at Giving Circle events to help select grants to be distributed to Black-led and serving nonprofits in Fairfield County. Learn more and get started.