Richard Sussman Honored by Council for Philanthropy

May 2011

Richard Sussman, director of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Brighter Futures Initiative, has been named recipient of the 2011 Martha S. Newman Award by the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. Richard, a resident of New Haven, was honored for outstanding staff performance in serving the philanthropic community.

Richard Sussman

The Brighter Futures Initiative is a 20-year, $25 million initiative designed to support school readiness and early school success for Hartford’s children by strengthening the system of services available for Hartford’s young children and their families. The Hartford Foundation recently committed an additional $10 million over five years to continue and enhance the successful work conducted to date.

“Richard has had an extraordinary impact on his peers and the sphere of early childhood education,” said Nancy Roberts, president of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy.

According to Joeline Wruck, director of programs for the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, “Richard’s willingness to mentor, share his expertise and participate in statewide efforts with others in the philanthropic community makes him an especially appropriate recipient of the Newman Award.”

As director of the Brighter Futures Initiative, Richard is a champion for and spearheads the Hartford Foundation’s efforts to support the development of a comprehensive system of early childhood services for Hartford families. Under his leadership, and with his vision, the Initiative has demonstrated that it is possible to alter the course of children growing up in poverty.

“Richard is passionate about the ways that community foundations can make a difference to those least advantaged in the community. He never loses sight of that and it is his compass,” commented colleague and past award recipient Karen Brown, vice president for programs at the Fairfield County Community Foundation.

Richard’s commitment to philanthropy goes well beyond his work at the Hartford Foundation. He is an active participant in the Council’s early childhood funders group and has testified before the legislature on behalf of young children. He helped to create the Hartford Blueprint for Young Children, which spawned Hartford’s Office for Young Children, the first municipal office dedicated to the needs of young children and their families in Connecticut. He also serves on the board of directors of the Clifford Beers Child Guidance Clinic in New Haven.

Richard received his doctorate in community/clinical psychology from Yale University. His involvement in policy issues related to children and families began in graduate school where he was a Bush Fellow in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale. Richard’s policy work continued after graduation when he became the first director of research at the Connecticut Commission on Children, where he helped produce the first Connecticut’s 1, 2, 3 KIDS COUNT early childhood campaign.

The award was established in 2007 by the Council to honor the life and work of Martha S. Newman, who before her death in 2005 served as a staff member for several grantmaking organizations. Her combination of firmness and gentleness, her work ethic, integrity and dedication, and her knowledge of community needs made her an invaluable staff member, mentor and friend. Martha Newman set the standard for an exemplary staff member. For more information about the Newman Award including previous recipients visit the Council’s website.

The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy is a nonprofit membership association of grantmakers committed to promoting and supporting effective philanthropy for the public good in Connecticut. The award was presented at the Council’s Connecticut Philanthropy Summit on May 5. For more information about the Council, visit www.CTphilanthropy.org or call 860-525-5585.