Deb Battit

MPA Fellows, Class of 2024

Program Officer, Community Foundation of Eastern CT

Deb has spent nearly three decades in Connecticut’s philanthropic sector. She began her career as director of member services at the CT Council for Philanthropy, the state’s industry association for grantmakers. She did research, developed programming and wrote a range of publications regarding the art, science and policies of charitable giving. She then held a variety of roles in the executive, community investments and communications departments over 12 years at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, one of the largest and oldest community foundations in the country. Since 2016, Deb has been a program officer at the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. Her portfolio includes grantmaking of over $350,000 annually to benefit youth and other residents of Norwich, Windham and the Northeast Corner and administering the foundation’s scholarships program of $1.2 million annually. Deb earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University, Montreal and a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults from International House, London. She is currently co-chair of the board of the Connecticut Network for Children and Youth, which provides training, technical assistance and research to support quality afterschool/out-of-school time programs for kids across Connecticut.