Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Last September, I shared important news about the Tauck Family Foundation’s (TFF) anticipated mission shift to the environment sector, after more than 25 years of supporting youth development, including 10 years of support in Bridgeport, CT.  Since that time, as part of our strategic planning process, the Board of Directors and TFF family members have engaged in a robust educational process to learn about this new mission space and opportunities for impact.  I am happy to share that during our recent meeting, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the following new vision, long-term outcomes, and mission for the organization:

Our Vision:

• The land and natural habitats upon which communities and all living beings depend are healthy, regenerative, and valued.

Long-Term Outcomes We Seek:

• Regenerative ecosystems and practices are valued as critical for long-term environmental and community health; and
• Communities that are most impacted by climate and other environmental challenges have tools, knowledge, and resources to address adverse impacts.

Our Mission:

• The Tauck Family Foundation supports communities that are most impacted by climate and environmental challenges to strengthen and maintain healthy, regenerative ecosystems and land use practices through education and engagement.

We are excited about this next phase for the Foundation.  In order to ensure our resources are utilized intentionally and impactfully, we acknowledge that a great deal of learning, peer network building, and assessment of our investments and operations will continue.  To that end, while we embark on the development of a new strategic plan that will guide our work, we will concurrently distribute several exploratory grants in the new mission space.  These investments, and the relationships and learnings that will arise from them, will help TFF refine our new funding strategy and foster new partnerships.  For more information about this process, please email the Foundation at info@tauckfoundation.org.

Simultaneously, we remain committed to providing transitional grants to each of our current investee partners for the next three years to support their important work around social and emotional learning (SEL) in Bridgeport, CT.  The first grant will be distributed this fall and incrementally smaller grants will be made in 2024 and 2025.  As always, we will remain an advocate for all partners and the critical work they do.

Thank you for your continued partnership as we initiate a new chapter for the Foundation. Should you have any questions, please reach out to me at colleen@tauckfoundation.org or to Kim Hein, Executive Director of the Tauck Family Foundation, at kim@tauckfoundation.org.

Sincerely,

Colleen Ritzau Leth
President, Board of Directors