After three years serving as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s third nonprofit liaison, Terry Edelstein is retiring.
In a letter to nonprofit organizations Tuesday, Edelstein said she let the governor know several months ago that she planned to leave the position and help him develop a transition plan. Her last day will be Friday, Oct. 2.
She said she plans to spend more time with her grandchildren and pursue her interest in travel.
Edelstein, who headed the Connecticut Community Providers Association before taking the cabinet position, said she met with 6,900 individuals and worked closely with more than a dozen organizations during her tenure.
“The governor could not be more thrilled with the work Terry has done,” Devon Puglia, Malloy’s communications director, said. “She’s been a tireless advocate and a truly dedicated public servant, and we cannot thank her enough for the exceptional work she’s put in over the past several years.”
Edelstein credited Malloy for creating the position of nonprofit liaison and the 26-member Cabinet on Nonprofit Health and Human Services, both firsts in the country. She also thanked Malloy for establishing the nonprofit grant program, which allows the state to put up to $30 million on its credit card for capital projects for sometimes cash-strapped nonprofits.
“Thanks to the many people I’ve worked with over the past three years — my old friends in the nonprofit community provider world, my new colleagues in a diverse array of nonprofit organizations, my peers throughout Connecticut state government whom I have grown to appreciate in a whole new light and to the many advocates and individuals who have stepped forward to guide me in linking nonprofit providers and government resources and supports,” Edelstein wrote.
She said she would offer her services during the transition in a volunteer capacity.