Advisor Spotlight: Ruth Fortune
When working with clients who are also interested in giving back to their communities, Ruth helps them learn about the charitable options for channeling their interests.
Ruth Fortune is trust and estate attorney who gives back to her community of Hartford and helps her charitably-minded clients support the causes they care about.
As an associate attorney at Wiggin and Dana’s in the firm’s Private Client Services Department, Fortune works with clients on establishing trusts and estate plans. She helps clients protect all that they’ve built.
Prior to practicing law, Fortune worked with high-net worth families as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. In this role, she focused on getting to know her clients and truly understanding their financial goals. Whether their wishes included developing an investment strategy or planning for retirement, Fortune worked with her clients to build comprehensive plans that would help them on their road to financial security.
A civic-minded resident of Harford, Fortune volunteers for the Betty Knox Foundation, which gives small grants to community nonprofit organizations that are working to address Hartford’s most pressing social, economic and cultural needs. She is also on the board for the mental health provider Community Health Resources.
“I’ve been involved in boards since I moved here at the age of 24, and I connected with like-minded people,” she said. “Volunteering on boards gives me a way to channel my interests.”
When working with clients who are also interested in giving back to their communities, Fortune helps them learn about the charitable options for channeling their interests.
“I take direction from the client and try to advise them and bring to fruition whatever their goals are,” she said.
Partner with us.
Fortune is a part of The Community Foundation’s network of trusted professional advisor partners who work together to serve their clients’ giving needs. In 2025, she was a presenter on The Foundation’s virtual panel, A Legacy of Her Own: How Women Won the Right to Own, Inherit and Bequeath Property.
The Foundation works with advisors like Fortune so they can provide their clients with individualized giving plans that meet their unique charitable goals while maximizing tax and estate planning advantages. Advisor partners also receive invitations to seminars with up-to-date information on tax law changes and policies around charitable giving.
To learn more about charitable giving or partnering with The Foundation, contact Sharon Cappetta, CAP,© director of development.
