Dear Friends,
I am grateful to be the new president and CEO of The Village. When you lead an organization that has existed for more than two hundred years and is part of the fabric of Greater Hartford, it comes with certain responsibilities.
The Village must never be satisfied with doing the bare minimum for our clients. Our staff of more than 600 people is deeply mission driven, and when you talk to our employees you are likely to hear stories of how colleagues went above and beyond to help someone. The passion for our work is rooted in something simple and powerful: an ability to see the humanity in every client. When we do that, it’s easy to see their potential and unlock their resilience.
I learned a lot about this sense of community from my parents. They brought me to Hartford from Bogota, Colombia when I was six years old and created a home where everyone was welcome. The kitchen was always filled with relatives, friends and neighbors. We were not wealthy, but I understood that we had more than others, and that came with an obligation to share.
The Village is our collective kitchen table. We can’t solve every problem, but together we can nurture children, heal neighbors and build a healthier community. Success requires that we use our resources—from donors, auxilians, government contracts and corporate partners—efficiently and effectively to maximize our impact. At The Village we measure everything so we can improve outcomes. If a program’s performance is not meeting expectations, we find out why and make changes. High-performing programs get celebrated and scaled. We include a description of all our programs, along with client satisfaction and outcomes, in this annual report. I encourage you to review the material, scan the QR codes to listen to the testimonials and reach out to us if you have any questions.
Finally, the challenges facing our clients are often intergenerational. Real change requires The Village to form partnerships with other service providers. In the last year alone, we have strengthened our relationships with longstanding partners, like United Way and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, while creating new connections with organizations including Hartford Promise, UConn and Dignity Grows. You can read more about our partnerships in the following pages. I am honored to be on this mission with you.
Hector Glynn
President & CEO