Former Obama official wants to grow the influence of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Photo | Brad Kane Barbara Fields, President & CEO, Greater Worcester Community Foundation

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By Brad Kane

Barbara Fields

Title: President & CEO
Organization: Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Location: Worcester
Founded: 1975
Employees: 12
Net assets: $153 million
Fields’ residence: Providence
Birthplace: New York City
Age: 62
Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science & German, Tufts University in Medford; master’s degree in urban planning, MIT in Cambridge

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Barbara Fields took over at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation on Aug. 15, succeeding long-time CEO Ann Lisi.

Why did you want to join GWCF as CEO?

This job really pulls together all the pieces of my career. It was 27 years ago I moved to Rhode Island to open an office for the Local Initiatives and Support Corp., a national community financial intermediary. When I started, I didn’t know anybody. Now, my kids won’t even go out with me because I always have to stop and have at least six conversations.

I then had the honor to serve in the administration of former President Barack Obama, as the regional administrator for New England at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I was based in Boston, but I traveled from northern Maine to southern Connecticut to see the best examples of housing and community development, meeting developers, nonprofit, bank and government officials.

For the last four years, I served as the CEO at Rhode Island Housing, which is the state’s housing bank with $2 billion in assets. I grew it to about 230 employees. I was doing the housing piece, but I really missed the community development.

And you found that in Worcester?

It was the momentum going on in Worcester I could see from a distance, and the opportunity to hit the ground as a leader during a really wonderful time for Worcester. The board here is genuinely engaged and interested in having me become a change agent for the future. I could take the solid foundation I inherited and then engage even more so for the benefit of Worcester.

I was very excited to join the organization because business owner Carolyn Stempler was set to become our board chair. She is the first African American and the second woman to chair our board. With attorney Chris Collins becoming the vice chair, there was leadership in place thinking the way I think on ways to raise our profile.

What is your vision for the future?

My vision is us having a role in making the Worcester community stronger. We are here to change for the better the lives of people who live here, to make sure Worcester’s success works for everyone.

How do you do that?

We do this by being a civic leader. This is a role community foundations are embracing. Obviously, we raise money; we steward the money; and we make grants; but the idea of being a civic leader is to be a convener in the community. We can bring the private sector, the nonprofit sector and the government together.

One of the best examples of this is the arts. We make almost $7 million in grants every year, but we were recognized three years ago by the Barr Foundation – the largest private foundation in Massachusetts – as it was looking for five community foundations outside of the I-495 belt as a way to invest in the arts sector. We were chosen as one of five to receive $500,000. We just announced it is increasing to $1 million starting in 2020.

What did you do with the Barr money?

In the first phase, we supported the development of the cultural plan for the City of Worcester. We used some money for capacity-building grants, in order to do creative work in all neighborhoods of the community, not just downtown.

We gave funding directly to individual artists, which doesn’t get done very often.

How else can GWCF be a civic leader?

We are doing incredible investment into leadership programs, which is where we distinguish ourselves.

We partner with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce to run Leadership Worcester, now in our fifth year. We take 25+ people and teach them how to be community leaders. This year, we had our first-ever alumni event. I got to talk to so many great people from different backgrounds, and they are all really engaged in their communities.

How about other leadership programs?

This is our 20th year of running the youth community investment, where we take 20-25 10th & 11th graders for a retreat on a weekend and then 12 Wednesdays in the fall. We teach them about the community, soliciting proposals, grant writing, grant reviews; and they decide where to invest $25,000.

Another area where we build community leadership is the Nonprofit Support Center, although we should call it something different because people from the for-profit sector participate as well. We cover topics like building your career and sound fiscal controls.

This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Editor Brad Kane.