Curtland Fields

Curtland E. Fields is President & CEO (and Board Secretary) of the Turrell Fund, a Montclair, New Jersey–based private philanthropic foundation established in 1933 and tax-exempt since 1937. He first joined the foundation as a Trustee in 1997 and was appointed to lead it in 2005. A native of Washington, D.C., Fields oversees an endowment of roughly $120 million in net assets (2024) that funds organizations serving at-risk children and families in northern New Jersey and Vermont.

Before philanthropy, Fields spent 31 years at AT&T, rising to senior executive ranks. He served as President of AT&T's ~$2 billion Consumer Services Division and earlier ran the company's largest operating region, in the Midwest. His career there spanned finance, operations, and marketing, including assignments in the Office of the Chairman.

He earned an undergraduate degree in architecture and engineering, with high honors, from Princeton University, and an MBA in finance and marketing, with honors, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Fields has served on numerous corporate and civic boards, including the Board of Directors of Lincoln Center Theater, and as a Trustee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Caucus Educational Corporation. He has also held directorships at ATC Technology Corporation (formerly Aftermarket Technology Corp.), Lucent Technologies, and AT&T Universal Card.

Important correction to the stub data: The provided record classified Curtland Fields as an "Angel Investor" focused on "Seed Round" deals. Research does not support this. Fields leads a charitable grantmaking foundation; the Turrell Fund deploys capital as nonprofit grants, not as seed-stage equity investments in startups. The sections below are framed around his actual role as a foundation grantmaker.

• The Turrell Fund's mission is to support organizations that provide quality developmental and educational services to at-risk children — especially the youngest — and their families.
• Grantmaking concentrates geographically on New Jersey (Essex, Hudson, Passaic, and Union counties) and Vermont.
• Priority areas center on early childhood education and development, with funding flowing to nonprofits delivering direct services to children and families in underserved communities.
• The foundation disburses approximately $6.7 million per year in grants (2024), drawn from an endowment of roughly $120 million in net assets.
• It operates as a traditional private foundation: revenue comes overwhelmingly from its investment portfolio (investment gains and dividends), and charitable disbursements make up the large majority (~90%) of annual expenses.