Women & Girls Fund Executive Committee Welcomes New Members
Susan (Susie) Payne of Washington and Frances Stoffer of New Hartford have been named to the executive committee of the Women & Girls Fund of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation. The Fund awards grants annually for programs and capital needs with a focus on promoting economic self-sufficiency for women and girls through education, financial literacy and social services.
A resident of Washington and a graduate of Simmons College, Susan (Susie) Payne was Director of Development and then Executive Director of the Roxbury Land Trust. Previous to that, she was Executive Director at the Institute for American Indian Studies, and also worked at the New Milford Hospital Foundation. Payne was a founding family of the Litchfield Montessori School and also worked as consultant for the American Montessori Society. She is a former board member of the Steep Rock Association Land Trust and the Weantinogue Heritage Land Trust and a current board member of the Washington Scholarship Fund, the Lake Waramaug Association and the Washington Club. She worked on a capital campaign for the Susan B Anthony Project, where she was a board member for six years and currently serves on the organization's Advisory Council. She is also chairperson of Washington's Conservation Commission and was the first chair of the Washington Historic District Commission.
A resident of New Hartford and a graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Massachusetts, Frances Stoffer is the founder of Frances Stoffer, LLC, which facilitates professional learning communities. A long-time teacher, she taught English, writing and social studies at Watkinson School in Hartford, and also served as the Middle School English department chair. Previous to that, she taught at the North Canaan Elementary School. She was also the Area Director for Japanese exchange students at World Learning in Vermont; the Hartford Community Coordinator for AuPair/Homestay and worked as an ESL teacher in Saudi Arabia. She is on the board of the New Hartford Land Trust, a member of the New Hartford Historic District Commission and is Vice President of West Hill Beach Club. She also served as an Executive Board member of the New Hartford Historical Society.
Established as a giving circle in 1999 by a small group of women who shared a concern for the real-life needs of local women and girls, the Women & Girls Fund has awarded more than $70,000 to organizations that serve women and girls in the development of economic self-sufficiency by means of education, financial literacy and social services.
The Fund has awarded grants to support child-care scholarships for working mothers, assisted unemployed women to enter the workforce, provided transportation to working women, enhanced economic opportunities and promoted self-sufficiency for women leaving abusive relationships, and funded leadership and assertiveness workshops girls. For more information about The Women & Girls Fund or to learn how you can support its mission, visit www.northwestcf.org/womenandgirls