Fundraising Panel Discussion
This interactive panel discussion will seek to ‘pull back the curtain’ of grant funding for grassroots efforts and provide opportunities for attendees to ask questions of panelists from three foundations supporting work in Connecticut and across New England. Panelist from the Perrin Family Foundation, Connecticut Community Foundation and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund will:
Moderator: Roslyn Cecilia Sotero, Staywell Health Center
Panelists:
- Discuss effective ways in which funders and grantees/potential grantees can interact and build long-term relationships;
- Highlight, more broadly, the way philanthropy interacts with grassroots organizing;
- Provide a closer look at how funders review grant applications;
Moderator: Roslyn Cecilia Sotero, Staywell Health Center
Panelists:
- Wanda Correa, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
- Laura McCargar, Perrin Family Foundation
- Bilal Tajildeen, Connecticut Community Foundation
- Bart Westdijk, New England Grassroots Environment Fund
Speaker Bios:
Roslyn Cecilia Sotero is currently the program coordinator for the Queer Unity Empowerment Support Team (QUEST), a Staywell Healthcare Center and True Colors collaborative funded by Connecticut Community Foundation, which focuses on creating a healthy, vibrant and visible LGBTQ community in the Greater Waterbury area. Prior to this position, Roslyn created and led the Leadership, Athletics, Community and Education (L.A.C.E.) Youth Leadership Program, which was an identity-affirming program that catered to the holistic development of youth of color. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
Wanda Y. Correa is senior development officer for the Hartford Foundation of Public Giving. As senior development officer, Ms. Correa works with individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations that make up our diverse region in order to help them fulfill their philanthropic goals. In addition, Ms. Correa is the staff liaison for the Hartford Foundation’s Latino Endowment Fund and spearheaded the efforts that led to the creation of the recently established Black Giving Circle Fund. Prior to working at the Hartford Foundation, Ms. Correa led and managed several programs and initiatives in the nonprofit and municipal sectors in the greater Hartford region. Ms. Correa has served in both municipal and nonprofit volunteer committees and board of directors and has been recognized for her leadership by several organizations. Ms. Correa received her juris doctorate degree from American University, Washington College of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College.
Laura McCargar currently serves as the President of the Perrin Family Foundation (PFF). Laura joined the foundation in 2011 as a Program Officer, where she played a central role in designing the foundation’s youth-led social change grantmaking and the oversaw the development and implementation of capacity building initiatives designed to strengthen, promote and expand youth organizing across Connecticut. Prior to joining the Perrin Family Foundation, Laura was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship from Open Society Foundations to engage in research and organizing around the role that alternative schools and adult education programs play in Connecticut’s school-to-prison pipeline. Laura brings to her work more than a decade of experience as a youth worker and organizer, having served as the founding Executive Director of a New Haven-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth to use media and organizing strategies to create community change. She also serves on the Board of the Funders' Collaborative for Youth Organizing, a national collaborative focused on strengthening the youth organizing field.
Bilal Tajildeen joined Connecticut Community Foundation in 2017 as a program coordinator and oversees youth programing and grassroots initiatives as well as assists in the Foundation’s community leadership efforts. His duties include grantmaking, facilitating community conversations, and working with Waterbury, CT residents on developing their grassroots projects. He serves on the community council of Waterbury Bridge to Success, a city-wide cradle to career and collective impact collaborative as well as on the executive committee of the Queer Unity Empowerment Support Team. He is currently working on an English thesis-track master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University, focusing on post-colonial and queer theory.
Bart Westdijk came to the Grassroots Fund from the Netherlands. His interest in local solutions and grassroots initiatives comes from his world travels and thesis study focus on multinational corporations' potential to help alleviate poverty (yes, possible, especially if there is a real focus on local engagement and transfer of knowledge). Bart works from the Grassroots Fund's satellite location in Burlington (VT) and shares office space with the Center for Whole Communities right on Lake Champlain. As Program Director, Bart focuses on a variety of tasks ranging from strategic program development to fundraising, and from Grow grant program review to local food-related research and network participation. Bart has served as president on the board of the VT Community Garden Network from 2007 to 2012. He is currently involved with a start-up collaborative brew pub and is engaging in conversations to launch permablitzes with a particular focus on class, privilege and equity around Chittenden County.