Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Board of Directors Elects New Officers

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving’s Board of Directors Elects New OfficersAndrew Worthington becomes board chair, Mark Overmyer-Velázquez serves as vice chair and Marlene Ibsen reappointed treasurer Andrew Worthington has been elected to serve as chair of the volunteer board of directors of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving – the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region. Worthington succeeds Theodore “Ted” Sergi, who completed his three-year term as chair, but will continue to serve on the board in 2023. Worthington, a resident of Hartford/Stonington, is CEO/partner and managing director with Long River Wealth Management, a 12-person wealth management team with UBS Financial Services. He counsels entrepreneurs, professionals, nonprofit institutions and businesses. Prior to joining UBS as a financial advisor in 2004, Worthington worked at Webster Bank and was a founding partner of Knowledge Matters, Inc., the leading developer and publisher of simulation-based business and personal finance curriculums for high schools. Worthington began his professional career in financial services in 1985 with Connecticut National Bank and its successors. Worthington has been actively involved in a variety of local boards, including as a member of the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts board of directors and member of the Hartford Marathon Foundation Board of Directors, and past chairman of the board of the Estate and Business Planning Council of Hartford. Prior to his appointment to the board in 2015, Worthington had been a dynamic supporter of the Hartford Foundation, serving as a member of its Cultivation Committee, a member of its Latino Endowment Fund, a former chair of its Catalyst Endowment Fund, and a charter member of its Black Giving Circle Fund. Prior to his selection as board chair, Worthington served as treasurer of the Foundation’s board and chair of the Foundation’s Development Committee. In other board appointments, Dr. Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, University Campus Director for the University of Connecticut-Hartford was elected to serve as vice chair and Marlene Ibsen was reappointed treasurer. Overmyer-Velázquez, who replaces departing board member Rodney Powell as vice chair, was appointed to the Foundation’s board by MetroHartford Alliance in 2019. He is the University Campus Director for the University of Connecticut-Hartford, the author and editor of several books, and has been a visiting scholar and lecturer at universities in Mexico, Chile, China and Jordan. Overmyer-Velázquez served on the Immigration and Detention Service Project as part of the UConn Law School’s Asylum and Human Rights Clinic. The first Latinx elected official in West Hartford, in 2017 Overmyer-Velázquez concluded a six-year term as a member and chair of the West Hartford Board of Education. Overmyer-Velázquez has also served on several other boards, including Connecticut Students for a Dream, Hartford Public Library, Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, MetroHartford Alliance and iQuilt. He completed his doctoral studies in Latin American history at Yale University. Ibsen was first appointed to the Foundation board by the Trustees Committee (comprised of Bank of America and KeyBank) in 2017. Since November 2007, Ibsen has served as chief executive officer and president of Travelers Foundation and vice president of Community Relations for The Travelers Companies, Inc. Under her leadership, Travelers has developed a strategic approach for the company’s charitable giving, with a significant emphasis on increasing educational opportunities for underrepresented students. Ibsen has served on the boards of a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, Governor’s Prevention Partnership (CT), Hartford Promise and The Connecticut Forum, and she has served as chair for National College Attainment Network and Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding towns. Through partnerships, the Foundation seeks to strengthen communities in Greater Hartford by putting philanthropy in action to dismantle structural racism and achieve equity in social and economic mobility. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $900 million since its founding in 1925. For more information, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.