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Shaping Connecticut from Within

We are Connecticut, through and through. Our team's deep roots in this state fuel our commitment to advocate for everyone. Drawing from our  experiences and our communities, we strive to create a Connecticut that reflects our collective hopes and dreams.

Our Staff

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GARTH HARRIES

President and CEO
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MIRELLISE VAZQUEZ

Vice President of Investment
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ADRIANA ARREOLA JOSEPH

Chief Administrative Officer
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MELVIN MEDINA

Vice President of Advocacy and External Affairs
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MATHIAS BURNER

Manager of Mobilization and Field Strategy
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JONATHAN CABRAL

Director
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ELLEN FUGATE

Data Manager
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MEGHAN HOLDEN

Director of Marketing and Communications
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MERCEDES MACALPINE

Program Coordinator, Grant Strategy
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KARISSA MUÑIZ

Marketing and Communications Strategist
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CHELUM OKORO

Analyst
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COURTNEY MCNALLY PARKERSON

Director
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AMY PLOCINIK

Operations Coordinator
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KATE REEVES

Director
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BRIGITH RIVERA

Field Organizer
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CORALYS SANTANA

Policy and Advocacy Strategist
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SANA SHAH

Director of Policy and Advocacy
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About The Connecticut Project Action Fund

Our Mission

The Connecticut Project brings together communities, ideas, and resources to improve systems and generate real-world outcomes for people who are lower-income or asset-limited.

Our Vision

We work for a just, thriving, and optimistic Connecticut where race, gender, income, geography, and other circumstances no longer predetermine opportunity. 

Our Who

To build the Connecticut we seek, we must create opportunity with and for people who have historically been left out: people who are in financial crisis (low-income) and people who live on the verge of crisis (asset-limited). That means we work for more than 550,000 households across all parts of our state, from all backgrounds. We know that geography, race, and gender are driving forces behind barriers to opportunity, and these barriers are intersectional and multi-faceted.

Our Why

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOBILITY:   
We believe every person in Connecticut, of every background, should have access to meaningful opportunity, now and in the future. Although the challenges are real, we know it is possible to create that Connecticut. We believe everyone has a role in creating opportunity in Connecticut. We’re working to transform Connecticut into a state where everyone has the resources to support themselves and their families and experiences full quality of life. 

Our Role

The Connecticut Project mobilizes people, partners, and resources around agendas that advance the economic, child care, and housing interests of low-income Connecticut families. We are a catalyst for timebound, results-oriented campaigns that advance positive outcomes for low-income families in collaboration with low-income people, community groups, advocacy organizations, and others

Who We Are

The Connecticut Project consists of two independent, distinct, and separately funded and governed organizations: The Connecticut Project, a 501c3 public charity, and The Connecticut Project Action Fund, a 501c4 advocacy organization. This allows us the greatest flexibility in our work and enables us to leverage everything we can to fight with and for low-income and asset limited people in our state. 

Statement on Systemic Oppression

We know that oppression in many forms, including systemic racism, has a living legacy in our cultural, social, and political institutions, and is the reason identity and geography continue to yield inequitable outcomes for many households throughout our state. In prioritizing systems change, we seek to end injustice, together striving for systems that deliver opportunity and outcomes to households who are working to survive and thrive. 

 

Learn more about our early days (and what's next) in our 2024 Inaugural Report:

STAY CONNECTED

Fill out the form to stay up-to-date with the latest from The Connecticut Project Action Fund and to join us in our fight for a more inclusive and prosperous Connecticut.

Our Boards

The Connecticut Project Action Fund

  • Kica Matos, President, National Immigration Law Center
  • Larry Fox, Former Labor Leader; Organizational Change Consultant
  • Jesse MacLachlan, Director of State Policy and Advocacy, Reason for Hope
  • Susan Mandel, Zoom Foundation

The Connecticut Project

  • Stephen Mandel, Zoom Foundation; Founder, Lone Pine Capital
  • Kerwin Charles, Indra K. Nooyi Dean and Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management, Yale School of Management
  • Britt-Marie Cole-Johnson, Partner, Robinson & Cole
  • Tiffany Donelson, CEO, The Connecticut Health Foundation
  • David Lehman, Managing Partner, HPS Investment Partners
  • Susan Mandel, Zoom Foundation
  • Kica Matos, President, National Immigration Law Center

Careers

For career opportunities with The Connecticut Project, click here