Mourning the Passing of Patrice Cromwell, Vice President, Center for Economic Opportunity

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion is sad­dened to share that Patrice Cromwell, vice pres­i­dent of the Foundation’s Cen­ter for Eco­nom­ic Oppor­tu­ni­ty, passed away on Aug. 27, 2024, after a long ill­ness. Cromwell, who spent near­ly 20 years at the Foun­da­tion, led its invest­ments to improve finan­cial sta­bil­i­ty and edu­ca­tion­al and eco­nom­ic prospects for chil­dren, young peo­ple and families.

“Patrice ded­i­cat­ed her life to ensur­ing that every fam­i­ly has the eco­nom­ic sta­bil­i­ty to thrive, and that every young per­son has the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn, earn and save for a brighter future,” said Foun­da­tion Pres­i­dent and CEO Lisa Hamil­ton. ​“She was effec­tive not only because of her con­sid­er­able tech­ni­cal exper­tise, but a pas­sion and light that inspired oth­ers to do this impor­tant work.”

Hamil­ton not­ed that even in her final days, for exam­ple, Cromwell took time out to wel­come a new employ­ee. ​“She mod­eled a gra­cious, warm lead­er­ship that embod­ied the best of Casey.”

The Foundation’s Cen­ter for Eco­nom­ic Oppor­tu­ni­ty focus­es on improv­ing edu­ca­tion­al and eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties and sys­tems for young peo­ple. Its invest­ments devel­op path­ways for par­ents to become finan­cial­ly sta­ble and sup­port their children’s healthy devel­op­ment and aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess; equip young peo­ple to pre­pare for employ­ment; sup­port stu­dent par­ents in com­plet­ing their edu­ca­tion; and help young peo­ple gain access to and nav­i­gate pub­lic ben­e­fits, man­age their mon­ey and save for the future. 

Cromwell’s accom­plish­ments includ­ed cre­at­ing Learn and Earn to Achieve Poten­tial (LEAP), a mul­ti­mil­lion-dol­lar ini­tia­tive with 10 local part­ner­ships across the coun­try to increase employ­ment and edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple fac­ing some of the great­est chal­lenges on the path to adult­hood. Anoth­er ini­tia­tive, Expand­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for Young Fam­i­lies, aids young par­ents in col­lege completion.

Pri­or to her arrival at Casey, Cromwell spent more than two decades cre­at­ing, run­ning and work­ing for non­prof­its and a local foun­da­tion in the Bal­ti­more region and worked in finance and man­age­ment con­sult­ing in New York.

Cromwell held a bachelor’s degree in eco­nom­ics from Prince­ton and a Mas­ter of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion from Yale Uni­ver­si­ty. She served on the steer­ing com­mit­tee of the Youth Tran­si­tion Fun­ders Group, an orga­ni­za­tion of nation­al and region­al phil­an­thropic part­ners, and as vice pres­i­dent of the board of direc­tors of the Put­ney Open Door Fund, which works to elim­i­nate bar­ri­ers for young peo­ple seek­ing edu­ca­tion­al sum­mer experiences.

“Patrice’s ded­i­ca­tion and wis­dom shone through in every­thing she did, and she will be deeply missed not only by her col­leagues but by part­ners across the field,” Hamil­ton said. ​“The hearts of our entire Casey com­mu­ni­ty are with her fam­i­ly and friends dur­ing this hard time.”