Celebrating Black Philanthropy Month 2026: Black Health Is Black Wealth Across Connecticut (RECORDED)

In recognition of Black Philanthropy Month 2026, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Community Foundation, Fairfield County's Community Foundation and Greater Hartford Gives Foundation co-hosted a discussion on the power of philanthropy to strengthen Black communities by supporting mental and physical health and wellbeing.

A panel of Connecticut leaders in public health explored how generosity and innovative practices can create healthier families, stronger futures and lasting change.

Panelists 

Althea Marshall Brooks, executive director of Waterbury Bridge to Success (BTS) is guided by an ardent commitment to holistic excellence and service. Prior to BTS, she served as the New Haven Public Schools Director of Coordinated School Health. The Waterbury native earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Connecticut; a Master of Science from Southern Connecticut State University; and a Master of Divinity from Yale University.

Dr. Charles C. Morgan, is the founder and president of Sawubona, Inc., a not-for-profit group focused on the mental health and resiliency of youth in Bridgeport utilizing creative expression. He is the former Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Bridgeport Hospital for 20 years. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from City College of the City University of New York and received an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1983.

Lee Morgan, Ph.D., is the Senior Learning & Evaluation Officer at Greater Hartford Gives, where he helps lead the organization’s monitoring, evaluation and learning efforts. Dr. Morgan is the creator of the Renfaut™ praxis paradigm and the developer of the R.I.S.E. Index™, both of which advance equity-centered leadership and systems transformation.

Natasha Ray, M.S., is the director of New Haven Healthy Start at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and a longtime healthcare and family advocate in New Haven. Ray established the Maternal and Child Health Consortium, involving residents, medical providers and other community-based organizations in creating a community-driven approach to reducing the infant mortality rates in New Haven.

Moderator

Dr. Leon Bailey Jr., MPA, DMIN, SVP for human resources and organizational culture at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, holds a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University in Psychology; a Masters in Public Administration from New York University; and a Master of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary.

What We Heard

• Race is a social construct, not a biological classification. “A DNA test can tell us something about our genetic ancestry, but it cannot tell us about our race,” Ray explained; and yet, while race itself is not biological, racialized experiences absolutely have biological consequences.”
• For Black communities, distrust of healthcare has both historical and contemporary roots. “Trust does not exist in a vacuum,” said Ray. “And rebuilding trust requires changing the experiences that people have when they're navigating these systems." Increasing Black representation in health care is crucial to deepening trust.
• Philanthropy has always had transformative power.
  • The Flexner report, which was published in 1910 and led to the widespread closure of Black medical schools and the deepening of racial inequities in the field, is a sobering example of how funding has the power to create lasting change, and an example of the present-day imperative to be intentional in supporting Black-led efforts.
  • “The question is not whether philanthropy can transform systems. History tells us that it can,” said Ray. “The questions are: What are we transforming towards, and who gets to decide that?”
  • “Black philanthropy is important because it puts us in the driver's seat to be able to direct the funds in many ways to those communities where we know we're going to get the outcomes,” said Dr. Morgan.
• Culturally-proficient care at the bedside begins in the academy. “We need to make sure people understand what it means to see the humanity of people before they become caretakers and health care professionals,” said Brooks. Community-based programs like Healthy Start, Sawubona, Inc. and Waterbury BTS are also crucial.
• Allostatic load, or the cumulative wear on the body from chronic stress, is one way racial inequities in health care can be documented. “It can also account for both not seeking treatment or withdrawing from treatment early,” noted Dr. Morgan.
• Panelists pointed to policy advocacy, noting the Black Maternal Health Caucus’ role in advocating for doula-friendly hospitals and accountability measures like “hospital report cards.”
• Panelists emphasized Black joy throughout the conversation, and the importance of elevating the positives. “There is so much to celebrate,” said Brooks. “I think we’ve got to flip this race thing on its head … and recognize the power that you have in this melanin that we walk around in.”

Resources

• New Haven Healthy Start at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
  • Download, print and share the NHHS brochure here.
• Sawubona
• Greater Hartford Gives Foundation
• Waterbury Bridge to Success
• The SOUL Fund, a community-led giving circle housed at Fairfield County's Community Foundation focused on support for Black-led and Black-serving nonprofits in Fairfield County. If you have additional questions, please contact Ryan Deal at rdeal@fccfoundation.org

About Black Philanthropy Month

Observed every August, Black Philanthropy Month (BPM) is a global celebration and concerted campaign to elevate African-descent giving and funding equity. BPM was incubated and started in 2001 by its Founder, Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland, with the support of Reunity (formerly the Pan-African Women's Philanthropy Network) and officially launched in 2011. A new organizing concept frames the BPM campaign each year. The theme for 2026 is "Many Voices. One Movement."