CIGNA Grant Aims to Advance Efforts to Add Diversity to Ranks of School Superintendents

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CIGNA Grant Aims to Advance Efforts to Add Diversity to Ranks of School Superintendents

Amidst a summer of increased nationwide focus on racial equity and opportunity across many fields of endeavor, Connecticut-headquartered Cigna Corporation, a global health service company, donated $250,000 to expand an innovative program at Howard University in Washington, D.C. tackling systemic inequality in education by creating a pipeline of superintendents of color, specifically trained to lead in urban school districts.

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Will CT Legislature Resume Efforts to Attract More Teachers of Color?

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Will CT Legislature Resume Efforts to Attract More Teachers of Color?

Of Connecticut’s approximately 50,000 professional public educators (teachers, administrators, school social workers, counselors, and other certified school employees) in the 2019-2020 school year, 9.6% were racial and ethnic minorities, according to the State Department of Education’s (SDE) data website.

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Two-year Colleges Seek to Rebuild Latino Enrollment After COVID-19 Decline

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Two-year Colleges Seek to Rebuild Latino Enrollment After COVID-19 Decline

Overall enrollment has decreased at Capital Community College with the start of the new academic year amidst COVID-19, as well as the eleven other two-year colleges are overseen by the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities. According to preliminary figures, the decline has been in the 10-13 percent range – final numbers are not expected until late September. For Latinos, just as the pandemic has been disproportionately more challenging both in the number of cases and economics, the enrollment decrease is higher, estimated at about 17 percent.

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A Majority of Young Adults Live With Their Parents – Highest Percentage Since Great Depression Era

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A Majority of Young Adults Live With Their Parents – Highest Percentage Since Great Depression Era

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed millions of Americans, especially young adults, to move in with family members. The share of 18- to 29-year-olds living with their parents has now become a majority the first time that has occurred since the Great Depression era, according to a new analysis of national data by the Pew Research Center.

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Libraries Provide Critical Services for Working Low-Income Families, Particularly During COVID

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Libraries Provide Critical Services for Working Low-Income Families, Particularly During COVID

Access to public libraries is especially important for low income working families across Connecticut, “because libraries provide information on social services and job opportunities, free internet and computer access, and a range of free programs, community meetings, and even 3-D printers,” according to a new report issued by Connecticut’s United Way organizations.

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Connecticut Families Face Growing Gaps, Challenges in Day-to-Day Financial Stability

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Connecticut Families Face Growing Gaps, Challenges in Day-to-Day Financial Stability

The day-to-day fiscal reality was troubling before the pandemic for a growing number of Connecticut families, as newly released data reflects. The pandemic has likely made it worse, and it likely to have a continuing adverse impact, according to officials at the United Way organizations in Connecticut.

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Hartford, New Haven to Receive Funds to Help Residents Navigate Financial Challenges From COVID

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Hartford, New Haven to Receive Funds to Help Residents Navigate Financial Challenges From COVID

National nonprofit organization the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund), in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Wells Fargo Foundation, has announced that more than 50 city and county partner governments across the country – including New Haven and Hartford - are set to offer financial counseling and financial navigation services for their local residents in need.

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Voluntary Initiative Aims to Boost Connecticut's Black-Owned Businesses

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Voluntary Initiative Aims to Boost Connecticut's Black-Owned Businesses

The mission of SHOPBLACKCT.com is to “challenge structural racism and transform the legacy of economic and social inequity in the U.S. by providing a platform to drive business to and awareness of local Black-owned businesses.” Among the values cited by organizers are Collaboration, Diversity, Service, Excellence and Empowerment. And their website has surpassed 800 featured Connecticut businesses.

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Connecticut Proceeding Full Steam Ahead in Building First Statewide Curriculum on Black and Latino History

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Connecticut Proceeding Full Steam Ahead in Building First Statewide Curriculum on Black and Latino History

With input from across the state, Connecticut’s new curriculum for a year-long high school course in African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino studies is already taking shape, in accordance with a new law – Public Act 19-12 - passed by the state legislature. The 150-member Advisory Committee involved in its development meets again later this month.

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