Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Announces Three New Appointees to Board of Directors

The Hartford Foundation is pleased to announce three new appointments to its Board of Directors. Estela López of East Hartford and I. Charles Mathews and Mark Overmyer-Velázquez of West Hartford will each begin their terms on January 1, 2019 on the Board of the Hartford Foundation, the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities.

Dr. Estela López, who received her appointment from the members of the Hartford Foundation’s Board of Directors, recently retired from her position as the Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System. She previously served as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs of the Connecticut State University System.  López has held a variety of academic leadership positions at Northeastern Illinois University, the American Association of Higher Education, the American Council on Education and the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. López has received numerous awards and has served on a variety of boards and currently serves on the Connecticut State Board of Education, the Board of Directors for the United Way of Connecticut and the Connecticut Health and Education Financial Authority. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature at Queens College.  She then attended Columbia University, where she earned both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Spanish literature.

I. Charles Mathews, who was appointed by the Judge of Probate Court, District of Hartford, is a retired attorney who ran his own consulting firm specializing in employment and discrimination law. Mathews previously served as Vice President, Diversity Management, Recruitment and Organizational Effectiveness for the Chicago-based Quaker Oats Company.  Prior to his role at Quaker Oats, he served as Director of Workforce Diversity and Employment Counsel for United Technologies Corporation.  Mathews has served in leadership positions on a variety of organization boards and committees and currently serves as Chairperson of the Hartford Stadium Authority and is a member of the West Hartford Town Council Zoning Alternates. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Government from Wesleyan University and his Juris Doctorate from Cornell University Law School.

Dr. Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, who was appointed to the Foundation Board by MetroHartford Alliance, is Professor of History and Latinx Studies and the Campus Director of the University of Connecticut-Hartford.  He is 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 Latino elected official in West Hartford, in 2017 he concluded a six-year term as a member and Chairman of the West Hartford Board of Education. Overmyer-Velázquez currently serves on a number of 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.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $720 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit https://www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.