Where Good Begins: Rebecca Karabin-Ahern
Rebecca Karabin-Ahern enjoys a unique perspective when it comes to the work of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain. She is a local business leader (Executive Vice President of Acme Monaco Corporation, a Civic Leadership Fund Corporate Champion); a member of CFGNB’s leadership team (she is chair of CFGNB’s Community Initiatives Committee); and a Plainville parent whose children realize the benefit of some of the Foundation’s most important work in early childhood development. CFGNB recently sat with Rebecca to discuss her very personal perspective and why, for her, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain is Where Good Begins.
Q) Tell us why giving back to the community is so important for you both personally and professionally.
A) Giving back to the community is something that our parents ingrained in all of us from the beginning. With Acme Monaco being a family-run business, that philosophy has carried over into our professional lives. Being a part of the Community Foundation’s work is such an incredible feeling and it was a very easy decision to make to support the Foundation’s Civic Leadership Fund.
Q) You have the unique perspective of, through your children’s school experiences, seeing the work of the Foundation up close. Tell us about the reward you feel, knowing the Foundation’s work is making a real difference.
A) It puts a big smile on my face because, well, I can’t even describe how exciting it is to see a program, such as the pre-school program at Linden Street School, come to fruition and to know that the Foundation played such an important role in making that happen with its First Years First initiative. To see the grant proposal come in, to see it move forward – and then to actually go to the first day of pre-school and see the smiles on the kids’ faces, kids who might otherwise not have had this chance, what’s better than that? We looked at private schools for our children, parochial schools, but we have been just so impressed with Linden Street School. Whenever I visit I like to drop in to the Family Resource Center there and there is always a room full of parents and kids. There are just so many resources there, I know where to go if I ever needed information for additional programs for my children.
Q) Tell us about the work of CFGNB’s Community Initiatives Committee.
A) The Community Initiatives Committee is important because we are tasked with researching and assessing the very community causes and projects that the Foundation will ultimately choose as signature funding initiatives. We’ve had so many successes with programs like First Years First, and right now we are in the process of developing new strategic goals. We’re very much looking forward to data from the Foundation-funded Community Well-Being Survey this fall and using that information to help guide us in developing these goals. This work is all part of what makes the Community Foundation so special.
Q) Why is the Community Foundation’s Civic Leadership Fund so important?
A) All the good work that the Foundation does would not be possible without the resources to help pay the wages and overhead costs of the very talented staff CFGNB is privileged to have. As a non-profit whose interest is the community, the Foundation has to count on that community to support its work. The Civic Leadership Fund is vital to not only to sustain the Foundation, but a successful Foundation.