New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Nonprofit 4-CT names new interim CEO
Exactly one year ago, Ted Yang answered a call to help coordinate Connecticut’s philanthropic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, after helping launch a nonprofit that has overseen the delivery of about $20 million in aid across the state, the New Canaan-based entrepreneur is handing off the baton to a new leader.
4-CT announced Monday that Yang had stepped down as chief executive officer and joined its board. At the same time, it appointed an interim CEO, Catalina Samper-Horak, who was the founding executive director of Building One Community, a Stamford-based nonprofit that serves the immigrant community. The changes are part of a long-planned transition.
“I instigated this change. I think it’s the right time for this change one year after we started 4-CT,” Yang said in an interview. “Catalina is fantastic at what she does, and she is an amazing leader, fundraiser and connector to the communities we serve. She’ll prepare the way for a long-term leader of 4-CT. It’s a process being started up right now, and it’ll take some number of months to find that person.”
Samper-Horak had served on the 4-CT board since its inception, but stepped down from the board to focus on her new position.
“I’m passionate about social justice and believe that we, as a community, all have a responsibility to help those affected by COVID. Given my own background and experience as a social entrepreneur, when Don (Kendall, 4-CT’s other co-founder and executive chairman) and Ted asked me if I would consider this opportunity I thought it would be a great way for me to stay involved and capitalize on the things I’ve done in the past.”
“Catalina has the full package of skills and experience we are looking for in our interim leader,” Kendall said in a statement. “She is very passionate about 4-CT and believes we have an exceptional opportunity to capitalize on the wave of innovation that is happening currently in the direct aid and universal basic income space.”
Samper-Horak expects to serve about six months as the interim chief executive. She will advise the board, which will pick the permanent CEO.
“I have the direct experience of running a nonprofit, being on the front lines and working with vulnerable populations,” Samper-Horak said. “Combining my experience on the operational side and strategic side with my frontline, direct contact with people will help the board with their decisions.”
One year in operation
4-CT was founded on March 15, 2020. Its formation was spurred by a call that day about the state’s response to the pandemic between Gov. Ned Lamont and Kendall, a Weston-based entrepreneur.
“As soon as Don got off the phone with the governor, he called me, and we said ‘Let’s go do this,’” Yang said. “The ‘this’ was being able to put together large-scale, statewide philanthropy for rapid relief for COVID.
Don and I are both entrepreneurs, so we wanted to jump in and make it happen.”
Among earlier undertakings, Yang and Kendall founded the Connecticut chapter of Social Venture Partners, a venture philanthropy organization.
“Ted was an amazing changemaker as he and Don (Kendall) got 4-CT off the ground, providing support for innovative programs and for Nutmeggers who would otherwise have fallen through the safety net,” Lamont said in a statement. “Believe me, Ted will stay very involved, just in a new role.”
4-CT has since amplified its impact by teaming up with leading nonprofits across the state. Its partners include Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Through its partnership with HFPG, 4-CT developed a grant program that distributed a total of more than $12 million to community-based nonprofits across the state for projects in areas including housing, education, food assistance, health care, community police training and legal services.
In addition, 4-CT has overseen the delivery of $4 million to $5 million in aid from other philanthropies.
The 4-CT grants were all funded before Nov. 1, 2020. Since last November, 4-CT has directed all of its resources to its card program, which provides cash relief to low-income recipients through pre-paid debit cards. To date, the initiative has disbursed nearly $2 million, with organizations such as community health centers helping to distribute the cards.
Recipients decide how they use the cards — which are worth up to $1,000 each — but housing, food and childcare rank among the main needs addressed by those funds.
“It came to our attention that there were needs that no one was addressing because they were cash needs,” Yang said.
By distributing the cards through organizations such as community health centers, 4-CT also helps the recipients get access to COVID-19 vaccines, virus testing and personal protective equipment.
“We wanted to get the cards distributed at the health centers so this population could get tested and vaccinated — and, more importantly, build a health care relationship,” Yang said. “Between 20 percent and 25 percent of the recipients of our cards have no health relationship (with providers).”
Connecticut ranks among the states with the highest proportion of residents who have received at least one vaccine dose. But major disparities in access persist along socio-economic, racial and geographic lines. To accelerate the process, Lamont announced Monday a plan to open vaccine scheduling for those ages 45-54 on March 19 and begin scheduling for the 16-44 age group on April 5.
“Connecticut is doing a great job of distributing the vaccines, but equity is always an issue,” Yang said. “The most disadvantaged populations don’t have the uptake of the more prosperous ones. That’s something that 4-CT wants to help address.”