STRATEGIC EVOLUTION UPDATES

JANUARY 2026

As we begin the year, we continue to witness incredible courage and resilience as communities across Connecticut and the country relentlessly weather extraordinary challenges.  

We know these challenges will continue to arise in the coming years. We also know that responding to challenges alone is not enough; we must also address the inequitable systems that have created them. To build the thriving, liberated, and equitable communities we all deserve, we must come together to develop strategies that meet immediate needs while also reimagining and rebuilding systems.  

To build this future, we must center those most impacted and partner across the public and private sectors. Recognizing that no single organization can do this work alone, we are committed to standing in solidarity with communities, advocates, and partners, while strategically focusing on the efforts most aligned with our mission. Together, we will cultivate the clarity and courage needed to strategically amplify efforts to eradicate racism and poverty, and to create a society with just and equitable education systems where all can thrive. 

To do this, our strategy must evolve. 

OUR STRATEGIC EVOLUTION 

Over the next year, the Memorial Fund will be undergoing a strategy evolution. This will be an intentional process that ensures our strategy is community-informed and suited for this moment.  

Our commitment to our mission is unwavering. We will honor past learning while listening closely to what communities are sharing today, allowing our approach to evolve with intentionality and purpose. Our goal is for this work to be courageously responsive to community needs and to contribute meaningfully to the collective effort to build a shared future in which all can thrive. 

DREAMING & BUILDING TOGETHER 

To ensure our process is inclusive, we will be reaching out to many of our current and past partners, as well as other members of the community. People will be invited to participate through a mix of surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Once insights are gathered and analyzed, smaller groups of partners and community members throughout the state will convene in Dream and Build design sessions where we will imagine what could be possible and develop options for the Fund’s core work moving forward. This information will then be synthesized and operationalized to leverage the fullness of the Fund’s resources in the most strategic ways possible.  

OUR WORK WILL CONTINUE 

We know that funder shifts have real impacts on organizations and the communities we serve. We are committed to remaining as transparent and supportive as possible throughout this process, and we will not stop our work during this time.  

As we undergo this process, and throughout 2026, we are committed to: 

• Supporting our current equity grantee partners with their current grants and increasing our capacity-building support 

• Continuing our commitment to support mutual aid groups, as we know their work remains vitally important 

• Making Rapid Response funds available to those who are specifically responding to these times 
• Investing our endowment in socially responsible, mission-aligned ways 
• Partnering with foundations locally and nationwide to build a greater collaborative network working for justice, equity and liberation

In this moment, our commitment to achieving equity in education is stronger than ever. We will continue to work alongside those most affected to confront racism and poverty, grounded in the Fund’s legacy and open to the evolution that this time requires. Together, we rise, again and again, toward the liberated world we all deserve.  

Together, we win.