Members of the Making Connections Site Team

Ana-María García, Site Team Liaison: As the leader of the local site team, Ana-María represents the Annie E. Casey Foundations’ Making Connections initiative in Hartford. She manages local administrative affairs, staff, consultants, and relationships within the community and is responsible for advancing Making Connections' goals.

Helen Figueroa, LLP Leader: Helen is deputy executive director of the Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS), the agency which is the Local Learning Partner (LLP) of Making Connections in Hartford. Helene manages the LLP work for CAHS which includes the collection, analysis, reporting, and evaluation of community data.

Linda Martinez, LLP Community Liaison: Working closely with the LLP’s evaluator, Linda performs the statistical and data management tasks required by the initiative.

Marta Moret, LLP Evaluator: Marta is the evaluation consultant to the LLP who tracks the efficacy of the programs, projects and practices supported by the Making Connections work.

Mayra Esquilin, TARC Liaison: As the liaison to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC), Mayra provides Making Connections' resident partners and organizational partners with supports and resources that help them improve the well being of children and families in Hartford’s neighborhoods.

Mike Salius, Communications Consultant: As the local communications partner of Making Connections, Mike is responsible for helping to build community awareness, understanding, acceptance of, and support for the initiative’s strategies and actions. He also captures the thinking behind the work by reporting the insights of site team members, partners, community leaders, and the people most affected by the work.

Magdamaris Figueroa, Program Assistant: Magda provides administrative assistance to the Making Connections in Hartford site team.

Community Builder (two open positions): The site team is poised to hire two community builders, one of whom will work in the Frog Hollow neighborhood and the other in Upper Albany. They will be responsible for ensuring that the interests of residents from these neighborhoods are represented at the tables where and when decisions are made that affect them.