Dotty's Seed Fund for Women & Girls

As Dotty Weston-Murphy made plans to retire from her role as senior vice president of Development & Donor Services at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, her husband, Glenn Weston-Murphy, set out to honor all she had cultivated during her career and through her service to their community. Working in secret with her colleagues, Glenn established a dedicated fund recognizing her role as gardener in both the literal and broader senses: as the tender of the vibrant flower beds around their Guilford home and as someone who nurtured opportunities for others.

“I wanted to do something different, that had a deeper meaning for what she stood for during her career,” said Glenn. “I knew the fund would need to honor all that she has done and accomplished, and reflect her values” – most importantly, Glenn said, “the idea that you can make a difference in your community.”

He established Dotty’s Seed Fund for Women & Girls as a designated fund benefiting the Community Fund for Women & Girls, a component fund at The Community Foundation that has involved both Glenn and Dotty since its beginning.

In the fund agreement, Glenn was sure to include a reference to the novel his wife had loved since she was a girl, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

“Dotty has dedicated her life to planting seeds of opportunity that grow into lasting change. Just like the tree that grew in Brooklyn in her favored childhood book and reflecting her passion for gardening, this Fund will nurture the growth of women and girls throughout the Elm City and Greater New Haven for generations to come.”

Glenn said we wanted the fund agreement to tell a story that reflected Dotty’s unique contributions to making the world a better place.

“Just like our garden where she grew everything you see, she also built a lot through the years in this community. I want this fund to be something that women and girls will benefit from, and will [help them] be able to start and grow something themselves. It’s about turning over the soil, turning over careers — changing, developing, moving with the times — and I wanted to help others do that.”

Both Glenn and Dotty were among the 90 founders who provided the seed funding for the Community Fund for Women & Girls in 1995. Dotty was working with The Foundation as a consultant to the Fund.

“From there, I sort of got hooked,” she recalls. “Women have always been important mentors for me in my career, so I had not only a deep passion about the mission of the Fund, but also, the women that got involved were some of the women that had been some of my mentors in my career,” said Dotty.

“It was the first collective giving fund at The Foundation. At the time it broke down a lot of barriers of what The Foundation represented,” she added. “More people came to realize that you didn’t need to be well off to establish a fund or contribute. The grants that it funded really gave women and girls a leg up. So, there was a ripple effect that was really beautiful – and here we are, 30 years later.”

Dotty eventually came on staff at The Community Foundation where she worked with the development team until she retired in 2025.

Dotty and Glenn established a donor advised fund at The Community Foundation in 2017 to support many local organizations serving women, children, education, the arts and basic needs. In giving through their donor advised fund, Dotty said she saw the importance and the accessibility of philanthropy for individuals at all stages of their philanthropic journey.

“There’s a lot of joy in giving back, even modestly,” said Dotty. “I feel very fortunate and blessed to have worked in this community and be surrounded by people that care and I've learned from and want to make a difference. It’s a privilege to have done this work, and then to also be a small part of the other side of philanthropy, and to pass that on to our children and our grandchildren. People believed in me and mentored me along the way, and so many of the organizations that are out there do that for other people. So that’s the joy that I continue to feel.”