Today we’ll hear from members of the team at Fairfield County’sCommunity Foundation. Informed by three decades of partnering with and serving the Fairfield Connecticut community, they have awarded more than $390 million in grants to nonprofits.
In a recent episode of The Business of Giving Podcast, Mendi Blue Paca, the CEO of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF), revealed the alarming housing affordability crisis affecting Black and Latino households in Fairfield County. She explained how FCCF’s strategic initiative, Fairfield County Forward, aims to combat social inequalities by focusing on systemic changes and leveraging community strengths. Additionally, she shed light on the importance of value-driven and inclusive leadership in shaping an authentic, equity-centered organizational culture, which she believes is vital for creating sustainable positive change in communities.
A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that Fairfield County was the most economically unequal metropolitan area in the country. That is why Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is focused on creating greater equity, especially greater racial equity across areas of housing, income and asset building, health, and education.