African American Philanthropy

Recognizing that there are unique issues that impact the African American community, The Community  Foundation works with African American leaders to carry-out their philanthropic goals to address those and other issues.

Funds can be created to honor the memory of a loved one or provide the gift of education through a scholarship. Or both. They can distribute grants in perpetuity to programs that eliminate health disparities or support other worthy causes. Grant recommendations can be made by individuals or by a group. Learn more on how to establish a fund.

Featured Fund:

The Urban Prosperity Fund (UPF) was established at The Community Foundation in 2010 to work together with the African American community to carry-out their philanthropic goals. It encourages philanthropy as a means of economic empowerment and civic engagement. The mission of the Urban Prosperity Fund is for African Americans to promote philanthropy, prosperity and self-empowerment in the African American community, now and forever. With every gift you make to the Urban Prosperity Fund, you invest in the future of New Haven’s African American community.

Through the leadership of its Advisory Committee, in partnership with The Community Foundation, the Urban Prosperity Fund has been working on a development plan for the past year. Committee members include Elizabeth Hilton, Chair, and several community leaders, including Orsella Cooper, Nancy Hill, Howard Hill, Tamiko Jackson, Carol Reid, Stacy Risco, Francisco Risco, Gary Tinney and Roslyn Williams. The following goals have been identified through the planning process to achieve the mission of UPF:

• Raising awareness and educating the community to mobilize around key local issues and opportunities impacting African American families through UPF-sponsored community events, educational forums and networking activities;
• Developing and disseminating information on the local African American community through research and collaboration;
• Building trust in all segments of the African American community;
• Inspiring our community by presenting events in the four UPF priority platforms: Health, Education, Economics and Philanthropy which assist in creating habits and providing tangible tools that will lead to success;
• Responding to community priorities through grantmaking and other direct interventions;
• Raising funds and new charitable resources to address current community priorities and for permanent endowment;
• Managing the financial assets entrusted to the Fund with integrity and Community Foundation support.

If you are interested in learning more about or helping promote the work of the Urban Prosperity fund, please send us your contact information. To help raise the endowment for future UPF activities, you can make a secure, online donation by clicking the button below.