Brief info
A lifelong Waterbury, CT resident, Bilal Tajildeen (he/him) joined the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy team in 2020 as the manager of membership and culture. His primary responsibilities include building community and connections with members from across the state, creating opportunities for education and exploration, supporting the Council’s affinity spaces, and continuously working toward more equitable and inclusive practices across Connecticut’s philanthropic sector.
Prior to joining the Council, Bilal worked as a program officer at Connecticut Community Foundation where his major grantmaking portfolios included community organizing, eldercare, and youth development. He also assisted In the Foundation’s community leadership efforts including staffing the Pride Fund (grantmaking by and for the LGBTQ community), serving on both the Waterbury Bridge to Success community council and the equity think tank, and as a member of the Supporting Organizing Work CT (SOW CT) steering committee.
Bilal earned a master’s degree in English from Central Connecticut State University, primarily focusing on queer theory and political theory as well as LGBTQ literature. He serves as the vice president of the board of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, a director on the boards of the Leever Foundation, the New Haven Pride Center, the Waterbury Bridge to Success Community Partnership, and Equality CT, as well as a national PLACES fellow alum through the Funder’s Network.
In his spare time, Bilal continues to do community and political organizing in Waterbury, is an adjunct professor of English at the University of Connecticut’s Hartford campus, and occasionally practices real estate, particularly when he can support people of color and working-class people in finding affordable, appropriate, and dignified housing.