The Colorado Trust

TRUSTEE PROFILE: SISTER LILLIAN MURPHY

Sister Lillian Murphy, RSM, President and CEO of Mercy Housing, Inc., served as a Trustee of The Colorado Trust from 1996 through 2006. At the conclusion of her tenure as a board member, Sr. Lillian shared her thoughts on Trust grantmaking efforts over the past decade, as well as her hopes for the future.

CommunityConnections: What did you know of The Colorado Trust 10 years ago when you were asked to serve as a Trustee?
Lillian Murphy: I learned about The Colorado Trust initially through one of my board members at Mercy Housing. I was impressed that The Trust’s broad view of health went well beyond medical care to include family and community factors. So I was really excited about the opportunity to play a role in moving that concept forward.

CC: From your perspective, what are some of the most important issues The Trust has addressed over the last decade?
LM: I think The Trust’s work in youth violence prevention has been critical. It’s so important to start early with kids, and to work with schools. The work with immigrant and refugee families is also close to my heart. The current focus of this work – having established residents working hand-in-hand with immigrants – is a much-needed approach. So much of the time we focus only on those who have needs, but others also should be involved and supportive. And finally, I believe another important strategy has been The Trust’s focus on building the capacity of nonprofit organizations. From early on, The Colorado Trust understood that grant monies can’t just be used to support programs, but also for staff and infrastructure to ensure organizational stability.

CC: What are some of the toughest decisions you and the Board have grappled with?
LM: Choosing which social needs to focus on when there are so many needs has been challenging, yet critical. Another big challenge was in choosing a new leader for The Trust. John Moran was a hard act to follow; he had such a reputation for integrity and being a fine man. We knew it would be hard to find a successor, but I feel like we did a good job in selecting Irene Ibarra, in part because it was such a deliberate process.

CC: What do you see in the future for The Trust?
LM: The future will continue to hold challenges for setting priorities and making sure that proposed solutions get at the root causes of social issues. For example, no one will be surprised to read that I see affordable housing as a root cause to solving homelessness. As housing prices go up and wages stay stagnant or go down further, there are an increasing number of families that can’t afford decent homes. We need targeted programs to help nonprofits expand the scale of their work on these types of efforts. The Trust should also continue to be very clear that its grantmaking efforts are focused on specific outcomes that can bring about significant social change. The challenge will be to continuously test how it makes grants to see if it’s effective, and to share outcomes with other foundations.

CC: What have you most enjoyed about your role as a Trustee?
LM: I most enjoyed getting to interact with members of the board and staff. Each board member is so committed to the mission of The Trust, and they give an incredible amount of time and talent. It has truly been a pleasure and privilege to do this work.