Happy New Year from ECCF President & CEO Stratton Lloyd

January 6, 2025

Leaning Into Our Region’s Collaborative Spirit in 2025

Dear ECCF Friend,

Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

I hope your 2025 is off to a peaceful and healthy start.

Turning the calendar to January 1 is always exciting – a reminder that the future is wide open and full of possibilities, especially when we come together in the way that only Essex County can. Here, across our 34 cities and towns, we’ve shown that the power of collective action is strong. We’ve seen this in our collaborative work to bridge the digital divide, elevate arts and culture and increase economic opportunity.

As we continue to face increasingly complex social issues, we will need to lean into that collaborative spirit now more than ever before. And Essex County Community Foundation aims to be the place where our region can come together to share ideas, to brainstorm and innovate, and to collectively invest in creative solutions that work and that last.

Because if not now, then when? And if not ECCF, then who?

Here at ECCF, we are filled with hope and optimism for 2025 – and the road ahead. In the coming weeks, we will begin our strategic planning process, and the ECCF team will be creating opportunities for robust community engagement to help us create this new roadmap for ECCF’s future. We’re eager and excited to lift up voices from every corner of the region so that our work is strongly grounded in community, equity and sustainability.

“There is no power for change greater than
a community discovering what it cares about.”
Margaret J. Wheatley

As I reflect on a 2024 abundant with partnership, innovation and collective action, I can’t help but revisit in my mind ECCF’s 25th Anniversary event in November. More than 500 people, from across all sectors, came together to honor our community and ECCF’s past, and to celebrate the future. It was a night filled with celebration, energy, connection and JOY – one of our core values here at ECCF.

“True joy results when we become aware of
our connectedness to everything.”
Dr. Paul Pearsall

My wish for 2025 is that as we grow more connected, as we continue to leverage the uniqueness of our communities and the diversity of perspectives our region offers, that we increase our collective capacity to strengthen and support our region.

Today, ECCF is thrilled to announce that we have grown to more than $140 million in assets. We are a family of nearly 350 funds that grant close to $20 million each year to nonprofits doing courageous, incredible work in our communities. We have come a long way in the last 25 years, but there is still much more to do: more philanthropy to inspire and more nonprofit organizations to lift up.

ECCF’s promise to Essex County is that in the coming year, we will continue to act with a growth mindset. We will continue to learn. We will continue to share. And we will always strive to be the central hub for collaboration and collective action in Essex County, a place to journey together towards improving the quality of life here in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, our home.

Making a difference takes all of us, and we look forward to working side-by-side for the future of Essex County.

With much peace and joy this new year – and always.

Cheers,