Walton-DuBois-Walton Fund for Black Excellence

When Karen DuBois-Walton and Kevin Walton thought about starting a donor-advised fund at The Community Foundation, they knew it would reflect their shared and individual histories as philanthropists in Greater New Haven.

Karen has a long history of service and leadership in New Haven. She was chief of staff to the New Haven Mayor, CEO of Elm City Communities and is now the president and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Kevin, the head coach of boys basketball at Wilbur Cross High School, is a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion in local education, and a widely relied upon educator and mentor.  Prior to Cross, Kevin was the girls basketball coach at Career High School. 

For many years, Karen and Kevin have each made lasting contributions to their church, their sorority and fraternity, respectively, and to various local nonprofits. As volunteers, Kevin is the immediate past president of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators and currently serves as the president of the Higher Aspiration with Visible Expectations (H.A.V.E.) Inc. Additionally, Kevin has made youth advocacy a focal point of service with the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Karen is chair of the board of the Melville Charitable Trust, serves on nonprofit boards in our region, and is an active member of her chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated.

For both of them, civic engagement and people power are central.

“We've always thought about philanthropy – maybe not in the sense of saying philanthropy, but in terms of wanting to be able to support Black excellence and our community,” says Kevin. “We didn’t necessarily have the words for that until this opportunity.”

“For me, it went back to this notion that Blackness is powerful,” says Karen. “It's got a powerful role in this country's history, and in the world's history that has been so powerful in our lives; and in too many places, it's not celebrated or invested in.”

The Walton-DuBois-Walton Fund for Black Excellence will empower and elevate Black communities by investing in initiatives that foster excellence, creativity and economic opportunity. Through strategic support of efforts around economic empowerment, community-building, grassroots sports and the arts, the fund aims to cultivate innovation, create pathways for success and self-determination, and foster generational impact.

Opening a named fund: accessible and attainable

Karen and Kevin were surprised by the ease with which they established their fund. “There are a lot of pieces The Foundation does to try to make this possible for folks who might think, ‘I could never set up a fund,’” says Karen. “It’s really attainable.”

Karen recalls how the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. opened an organization fund at The Foundation while she was serving as an officer over 20 years ago. Through The Foundation’s sound investment and tremendous financial management services, which maximized the organization fund’s growth, she knew a donor advised fund would be a powerful tool for her and her family.

Building for the next generation

The Walton’s sons, Kevin and Kaleb, were named as successor advisors to the Fund. “This will be their responsibility. Whether you're talking about your own sort of household finances or you're talking about your legacy planning, I think it’s so important to open those conversations up and not have it be a secret,” Karen says.

Karen and Kevin say they have been open with them about the fund and its function, as well as their sons’ impact on its mission. “The fund reflects that Kevin has been a player and a coach his whole life, raising sons who are creatives, and who have really brought us into the arts world. My work has been about healing and economic mobility and wealth creation for families, so the themes, I think, all come from who we are.” Ultimately, she explains, the fund invests in the “fullness of Black excellence.”

Drawing on legacy

“It’s about building a legacy, but also sharing and having an opportunity to help other folks,” says Kevin. It’s also about shining a light on Karen’s legacy, he adds. “The work that she's done in this community over the past 20 something years is something to be studied. To have the opportunity to have her name live on in perpetuity in this way was a no-brainer.”

For Karen, the notion of legacy begins with her parents, who instilled a strong sense of Black community in a place where few other Black families lived nearby.

“It's something that I grew up with: a sense that there was power in legacy, and that there was something beautiful about our family line, and about Black community. It was always jarring to see that in so many other spaces, there wasn't a powerful story of what Black looked like. I think my whole life, I've always sort of juxtaposed what I knew to be true from my family and upbringing against these other messages, biases and prejudices.”

Countering misconceptions through community-building

Karen and Kevin say they hope their fund will dispel prejudice and misconceptions by getting more people in conversation. “We'd like to continue to conceive things that give young people greater opportunities – whether that's through arts, sports, supporting their entrepreneurial dreams – so that kids can flourish in their communities.”

As the fund agreement states, “The Walton-DuBois-Walton Fund aspires to build a future where Black communities thrive, and their contributions are recognized and valued across every sector of society.”

A powerful moment for philanthropy

For Karen, this is a powerful moment for philanthropy to boldly assert itself as a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment. “In this moment, it is important to reiterate that there is absolutely nothing improper, illegal or discriminatory about people choosing what they want to do with their assets and their resources.”

She hopes more people will understand how that right is under threat. “We should really fight as hard as we're fighting for anything else: the freedom of our press, the freedom to assemble, and the right to set up a fund and do what you want to do with that fund, to advance things that are important to you. Anyone reading this has that ability to address a need in your community, or something you want to uplift, regardless of where you fall politically.”

She reflects, “I'm just proud to have this within a foundation that continues to hold dear to equity and opportunity, and the vision that this needs to be a region where everybody has access to what's necessary to live a full and thriving life. I hope this fund will be a small part in what's happening to drive that forward.”