Mission and Goals

The mission of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund is to improve the effectiveness of education in fostering both personal development and leadership.

Connecticut’s children are the focus of the Graustein Memorial Fund’s grantmaking. Our intent is inclusive: to work with rural, urban and suburban communities, and both public and private schools. We want to provide means for our grantees to learn from one another’s experience, and we seek to include those people who will be affected by programs in their design and evaluation. A belief that education benefits both individuals and society as a whole guides our work.

To accomplish this mission, the Memorial Fund has set three goals:

1. To engage young children more deeply in their own education.
2. To support Connecticut communities in improving education for their elementary and pre-school children. We think of communities both geographically and culturally, and mean to include teachers, parents, administrators, and others who have a concern for the lives of children.
3. To develop both statewide and local leadership dedicated to improving and advocating for education.

The storyteller figure symbolizes the values of the Memorial Fund—educating, supporting and inspiring our children.