Women and Philanthropy: Leaving a Legacy

Over ninety years ago, Nettie J. Dayton became the founding mother of what was then the New Haven Foundation. Her bequest for broad charitable purposes solidified her position as the first person to make a gift to the community’s new permanent charitable endowment.

An heir to her family’s carriage business, Nettie lived most of her life without the right to vote. Even still, she chose to rise above the issues and inequities of her time, by committing a final act of generosity to help create a better future for others.

Many women have followed in Nettie's footsteps to establish their own funds at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. In 1995, some really amazing, forward thinking, can-do professional women pioneered the Community Fund for Women & Girls - the first collective effort of its kind for the common purpose of advancing the status of women and girls in Greater New Haven. Since then, more than 25 individually named funds have been established to support the Fund's activities.

Funds that support the activities of The Community Fund for Women & Girls in perpetuity

The Mary B. Arnstein Fund^*
The Clara Stella Tropeano Arpaia Memorial Fund
The Barrie Muir Fund
The Myrna & Arnold Baskin Fund
The Dr. Miriam C. Birdwhistell Fund
The Anne Tyler Calabresi Fund
The Cynthia D. Conrad Fund
The Ann Pecora Diamond Fund
The Birgitta W. Johnson Fund^*
The Edelweiss Fund
The Ercolano-Astorino Fund
The Molly Rubin Fried Fund
The Griswold Homecare Fund
The Nancy I. Hoskins Fund
The Hulbert Family Fund
The Susan M. Lewin Women's Leadership Fund
The Catherine P. & Edward Petraiuolo Jr. Fund~
The Push Fund
The Phyllis Z. Seton Fund
The Jane Steidley Shaw Fund^~
The Gustave & Carol L. Sirot Family Fund
The May C. Smith Fund
The Women's Vision Fund
The Isadora Wyman Fund
The Janice & Richard Yusza Fund
The Tina Yao Fund

^*established by bequest; ^~ bequest intention