Loading...

Nancy’s Blog: September 2019

By |2021-05-28T16:14:41-07:00October 22nd, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: September 2019

Nancy and man stand by sign that reads "word by word gala"



I often think of Helen Keller’s quote when I think about United Way’s work in the community: “Alone we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” That togetherness means everything to the work we do every day. But we need visionary leaders to make that happen — from the profit and nonprofit sector to the philanthropic leadership that helps shape our community values. Thanks for inspiring the leaders in us all!

September 3: It’s always a good idea to keep up-to-date with your funding partners! Today, Jim Woods, VP, Corporate Relations, Ian Gordon, SVP & Chief Impact Officer, and I met with Xio Arroyo at Wells Fargo to talk about their new funding strategies and how United Way could help them meet their goals. United Way, in partnership with others, is always looking for ways to leverage our resources to support the goals of our partner organizations.

Jim and I also met with Ajay Nirula and Jude Onyia at Lilly to talk about the launch of their workplace campaign. It’s great to meet people who have been supporting these partnerships over the years and learn how they have been changing over time. We always welcome the launch of the Lilly campaign throughout their international offices.

September 4: Although I was in Salt Lake City to see the Elton John concert, I took the opportunity to meet with my counterpart at the SLC United Way office. Many thanks to CEO Bill Crim for his insights about how local United Ways are working with United Way Worldwide. He has also developed a strong fundraising campaign that’s diverse in its resources. Can you imagine a fund to support collective impact coming from the legislature?

September 9–23: Vacation time! I was very fortunate to be able to tag along with a tour of travel agents to India!

September 24: Today was interesting to learn more about funding for a “Kinship Navigator” project launched by our United Ways of CA office. We will be exploring both what this means for our community and who is doing this work. Basically, this project will help support our partners who are working with the more non-traditional caregivers to provide resources and support for them. If you have any connections for us, please let me know!

Tonight I was honored to be recognized as a Community Leader by A Way with Words at their Word for Word Gala. You can see the beautiful honoree video they put together for me here. Just as humbling was to be recognized along with Dr. Mary Walshok, UC San Diego, and Mark Cafferty, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. Along with this recognition was the opportunity to watch a segment of A Way with Words and hear the variety of questions that come in from around the world. One 9-year-old girl asked about the difference between immigrate and emigrate! (Do you know the answer?) I also learned the history of the phrase “dressed like Mrs. Astor’s pet horse.” Talk about dressed to the nines!

September 25: I caught up with David Lynn, Mission Driven Financethis afternoon as we explored potential partnerships around education. I’m excited to see where this could go in the future!

In the evening, UWSD recognized the incredible impact our Leadership Society donors have on the San Diego community. We gathered close to 100 donors at Herb & Wood to thank them for their contributions to United Way and to highlight one of our collaborative partnerships – Readers in the Heights. Many thanks to all who attended and to Emily Moberly, Founder of Traveling Stories, for talking about our partnership and the impact she’s been able to leverage because of that partnership.

September 27: Have you registered for National Philanthropy Day? It’s Monday, November 4th! As the chair of the planning committee, I’m excited about the program we’ve put together and our plan to present the award winners. This is our opportunity to thank all who are dedicated and compassionate about giving back to the community through their time, talents, or treasures. Today was one of the last two meetings we will have before the big event!

Nancy’s Blog: August 2019

By |2021-05-27T09:55:53-07:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: August 2019

Nancy poses for a photo with people wearing yellow "Live United" shirts



August was all about partnerships—new, existing, and prospective! San Diego is home to so many companies and individuals who are interested in advancing social impact. We all agree that we’re stronger together, and UWSD is uniquely positioned to align with partners and leverage resources to achieve our shared goals: transforming the lives of children, young adults, and families in our community.

August 1

United Way Worldwide is launching a new product in partnership with SalesforceJim Woods, VP Corporate Relations, Alicia Quinn, VP New Business Strategies, UWSD board member Ka’eo Griffin, UPS, and I went up to Orange County to learn more about it. I’m excited to explore this opportunity more not only with UWW but also with our community. Stay tuned!

August 5

I had lunch with Andrea Yoder Clark as she transitions into a new role with a new company. Andrea also works with USD and we may be able to collaborate with her students this coming school year. They will be exploring projects—which include data analysis—that will inform current decision-making needs.

August 6

Thanks to Tom Pellette, Solar Turbines President & Senior VP of Caterpillar, for spending some time on the phone to talk about our campaign with Solar Turbines. I also had the chance to welcome him back to San Diego and congratulate him on his new role with Solar Turbines. We talked about strengthening our workplace campaign and our mutual love for Texas!

In the afternoon, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I met with the coalition that is talking about creating a master plan for child and youth development. Even in the early stages of meeting, it is clear that it would serve our community well to coordinate the many efforts already in place to create a community that encourages and supports children and youth to thrive and prosper in San Diego County. We will continue to grow this group so that all organizations serving children and youth see their work represented in it. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the youth voice is a part of this development early on and throughout each phase. If you would like more information, contact Ian Gordon at  or Sean Elo at .

August 7

A successful meeting with CEO Kevin Graney and his staff at NASSCO included Jim WoodsVP of Corporate Relations, and me as we talked about their workplace campaign and increasing its success. Moving the coordination to the HR and Communications team will strengthen our connection. We also talked about a tour of the site for our Emerging Leaders group. If you want to find out more about how we are leveraging resources, consider joining Emerging Leaders or Women United! Contact Jim Woods at .

Steve O’Kane and Victor Bloomberg presented on the work of their Executive Consulting business – Bloomberg & O’Kane – and how they’re achieving sustainable results. They bring a lot of experience to this work and can show where their efforts have generated substantial results. I look forward to seeing how their business grows and develops!

August 8

What a fun day this morning to attend the annual Police Day at Jeremy Henwood Park. Kids from several different organizations come out to the field and learned about the canine unit, police work, SWAT team, and forensics. The fire department even brought out a fire truck for the kids to investigate! After they visited all the stops, they came back to get “Book Bucks,” which lets them get books to read at home! Thanks to SDPD and SDFD for supporting this effort. They brought a positive image to the kids around law enforcement and the important role the police and fire departments play in our community!

That evening I went to the retirement party for Charo TilaroNick Macchione, Director of San Diego County Health and Human Services, said goodbye to his long-time assistant tonight at an awesome reception and dinner event. If you ever had to schedule a meeting with Nick, you had to go through Charo – and she was extraordinary! She will be missed by all, but it is a well-deserved retirement as well.

August 9

Ian Gordon and I met with Connie Matsui this morning to get feedback and advice from her about the master plan for children and youth. She continues her interest in this area as she leaves her interim CEO role with the San Diego Foundation. She brings a wealth of information and a highly respected perspective on this topic. We appreciate her time and thoughts on how best to proceed as we look to align community goals and leverage resources and expertise!

Later that morning, Jim Woods and I met with Aditi Salvi, Tiffany Yarling, and Sondra Riehart at Solar Turbines. We were welcoming Aditi into her new role at Solar Turbines as VP of Human Resources. Solar Turbines has some fun events planned as they launch their workplace campaign, especially the pie-eating contest. I hope I get to see this one! Solar Turbines has been a longtime partner with United Way, and we appreciate their support throughout the year!

August 10

I stopped by the open house for Project Chop this afternoon as they opened their community garden produce and other vendors to the public. Fresh produce and yummy food along with other vendors were presented and produced by refugees and new immigrants to San Diego County. Food insecurity is a primary concern when we talk about family stability in many parts of our county. This is just one way communities are addressing the problem.

August 13–15

United Way Worldwide hosted the Equity Summit in New Orleans over three days. It was an incredible time spent diving deep into the issues of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Denise Barreto, Relationships Matter, was the keynote speaker who stood out the most to me. Denise challenged us to understand our own story and how it impacts our view of the world down to our view of our work. I’m excited to bring this to United Way internally and externally.

August 17

Many thanks to United Way of San Diego County board member Jacob Richards, California Bank & Trust, for the invitation to attend the San Ysidro Health Center’s 50th anniversary gala. This was a great opportunity to celebrate all they have done to provide services to the community, especially those in the South Bay Area.

August 19

It was good to catch up with Cara Dessert, CEO of the LGBT Center, this morning to hear more about what she is doing to learn from the community as they plan for the future. UWSD is working with The Center in our work on outreach and education for Census 2020.

August 20

Dr. Rodney Hood is an amazing resource in our community and especially in the Diamond District. I met with him to talk about our work as the administrator of the Census 2020 work and how it will impact the Diamond District. His insights were very helpful, and I’m hopeful we will find ways to work together in the future.

August 21

As are many of you, we are also meeting with members of the Board of Supervisors. Our meeting with Supervisor Gaspar and Christi Knight was informative and will shape our work in the future.

group of people at event

It was great to build on the camaraderie generated from an evening collaboration between Women United, Emerging Leaders, and their guests as we enjoyed an opening reception at The LOT and a screening of No Small Matter. The film showcases how very young children across the country are missing out on opportunities because of low teacher pay, two-parent working families, and funding access. It will break your heart to see the disparity that a lack of access creates.

August 22

I was honored to be invited to a community feedback session, hosted by SDG&E, on the utility’s various efforts to educate the public on how to reduce costs, deploy more energy sustainable products, and participate in available funding programs.

Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I met with Supervisor Gaspar and Supervisor Cox this afternoon as we continue to learn about their areas of interest and to update them on UWSD’s work.

That evening, Ian and I joined other philanthropists at the Leichtag Foundation HIVE for a summer social event hosted by San Diego Grantmakers. Many thanks to Javier Guerrero, Executive Director, Coastal Roots Farms, for the tour and information. This farm helps to address family stability through farmers markets and food distribution.

August 23

Whoa, at the last minute we were invited to meet with the Board Chair of United Way America, Neeraj Mehta! It was great to hear about the direction towards a Modern United Way. We were also able to give him a birds-eye view of life as a local United Way and interactions with the national office. Little did we know Neeraj also has family in San Diego!

We also filmed a press conference about the EITC results with Meg Storer, 2-1-1 San Diego; Omar Passons, County HHSA; Ramon Garcia, IRS; and Teresa Smith, Dreams for Change. Our EITC Coalition was able to bring back $47M in federal and state refunds this year, including $15M in EITC funds! Look for the press conference coming soon.

That night I joined many others in a goodbye tribute to Kevin Malone, former Executive Director of San Diego Organizing Project, as he enters his retirement phase of life.

August 28

It is always special to catch up with some of our community leaders, and Verna Tabor-Griffin, CEO, Center for Community Solutions, is one of those people! I met with Verna to learn more about what they are doing and how children in domestic violence situations are coping in school. We talked about how the stress and fear combined with leaving to live elsewhere can impact their ability to learn in school. I’m always looking ways we can partner in the future, so opportunities with the Center for Community Solutions will hopefully develop soon.

August 29

A bit bittersweet—and a lot of encouragement—when I met today with the new Executive Director at Alliance Healthcare Foundation. Welcome to Sarah Lyman! We talked about the various ways innovation is represented in our community and where she could connect from that perspective. Sarah has some interesting ideas of working in new and different areas in the future. We wish you the best in this awesome work!

Later, Ian Gordon and I met with Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and his Director of Communications, James Canning, to update them on our work. In these meetings, we are also updating the information we have on our Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) partnership and how it has impacted his district.

August 30

What a fun wrap-up to the Solar Turbines workplace partnership! Raffle items, gift baskets, and a pie-eating contest were all part of the festivities – Oh, I forgot the ice cream food truck onsite as well! There was a tie in the pie-eating contest, so the tie-breaker was an executive leader who felt the weight of the pies to determine the lighter one was the winner! Thank you, Solar Turbines, for being such an amazing (and fun!) community partner and giving back to the community.

August 31

Many thanks to the guests at our table for tonight’s Labor Council Annual CelebrationStephen Chin, Maria Torres, Ruby Featherly, Brian Lovell, and Sal Giametta. UWSD is proud to support the Labor Council and we are grateful for the partnership with Unions United.

Your Content Goes Here

Nancy’s Blog: June 2019

By |2021-05-28T16:12:58-07:00July 29th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: June 2019

Group of People on Day of Action



My days and nights are full of meetings…with current and prospective partners, CEOs of both nonprofits and for profits, and past and future board members. Between directing and participating in boards to cultivating new board members, I continue to find full-of-potential partnerships that support San Diego while helping UWSD move our mission forward: aligning partners, leveraging resources, and transforming lives.

June 3

An excellent opportunity was presented to me to join the Planning Committee for National Philanthropy Day – our community’s premier event to honor, recognize, and celebrate all who give of their time, treasure, and talent to nonprofit providers. And, to top it all off, I was also asked to chair the committee! I’m looking forward to what this group creates for our November 4th event. So mark your calendars and submit your nominations for people or organizations you want to recognize…

June 4

I started my morning as a Director on the Board at 2-1-1 San Diego. I am excited to start my tenure as an official board member even though I have an eight-year history with the project! This organization is providing much-needed connections between those in need and the service providers throughout San Diego & Imperial Counties. The CIE (Community Information Exchange) does even more connecting and monitoring to ensure people are accessing and receiving the services they seek.

I also had a chance to learn more about the work at CoTA (Collaborations – Teachers and Artists) by meeting with Board Chair Dennis Doyle and Operations Manager Kristin Rosevear. Bringing an integrated arts process to classrooms allows students with various learning styles to have equal access to information. Fascinating work. So many times I learn about these amazing projects, and we all wonder how we can scale the model. Much remains to be learned in this work!

Despite running behind, I learned a little bit more about changes needed for stronger governance with the board and the CoC at the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. I’m eager to put these changes into action so we can all address and solve the homeless situation in San Diego County.

June 5

Donor and supporters are the best people to be around! I had coffee with Marti Andrews this morning to talk about how she and her husband, UWSD board member Dr. David Andrews, can offer their support. We started to discuss our plans to celebrate the upcoming United Way of San Diego County centennial!

June 10

Boy, is this work around the outreach and education for the Census 2020 hard-to-count populations detailed! We are excited to have Michele Silverthorn represent United Way in leading the coalition of over 100 providers to outline the plan and the process for ensuring over 250,000 hard-to-count people complete the census. Although we won’t be doing the actual counting, we will all work to ensure everyone knows the importance of the Census. United Way entered into this work because of our work in Family Stability. The census count will be used to determine how Federal funds are distributed for food, health care and transportation needs.

June 11

How many fundraising meetings do you do each month? Today was a really important one for me, but I felt prepared from all the work we have been doing to define our role and clarify our message. Fingers crossed that I convinced him to support our work!

Over 7 years ago, I made a connection between a foundation board member and Sara Griffen CEO of Imperial Valley Food Bank. They were interested in doing something in Imperial County and Sara was exploring her need for a new food bank warehouse, kitchen, and community center. Fast forward 7 years and tonight I attended the celebratory dinner for the huge, brand-new, beautiful Imperial Valley Food Bank! This work to connect community partners and align goals is ingrained in me, and I’m so glad I can now bring this effort to United Way!

June 12

One of the innovative projects funded by Alliance Healthcare Foundation was a virtual reality education project in the refugee community to educate about the importance of vaccinations. I caught up with Ahmed Sahid, CEO of Somali Family Service, to learn more about what he has learned so far through this process. How do you see this technology being implemented in the future? I’d love to explore how it could be a substitute for reading to kids!

June 13

Recently some nonprofits have moved into the Kearny Mesa area. When I started to look around, there were actually quite a few already or newly here – so I decided to start the Kearny Mesa Nonprofit District CEO breakfast! Today, Michael Hopkins hosted the second of these breakfasts at the Jewish Family Service building. We were able to have a discussion with each other and as a large group. I look forward to the next one and the discussion around topics we all face as CEOs!

June 14

United Way is interested in learning what we can bring to the 0-5 space to coordinate providers currently doing this work. The problem is that half of San Diego’s 4-year-olds are not going to pre-K and, therefore, they aren’t ready for Kindergarten. Studies show they aren’t catching up over time, either! What can we do to solve this problem? CEO Rosa Ana Lozada and Carole Steele from Harmonium invited me to their site to learn more about their work in this area – and beyond!

June 17

Thanks to Leigh Harris, my assistant, for the connection to Hilda Mwangi at Takeda International. It was great to meet up with her to talk about so many potential connections with United Way. At first, I thought we might be talking about a prospective board member, but it turns out we will be better suited to align their goal for more employee engagement with the community and our goal of providing more opportunities for this to happen. Alicia Quinn, VP of New Business Strategies, is already talking about how to engage employees this summer!

June 18

I guess this week is all about potential board members. This morning, board member Rebecca Smith and I met with a prospective candidate to see if we could leverage his expertise with our needs through board membership! Hopefully, he will be on board soon!

June 19

It’s exciting to meet leaders in our community who are new to me. I had a great discussion with Toni Giffin, CEO of San Diego Goodwill. They are serving in so many areas beyond their well-known used retail business. Did you know they are also training people for employment? I’m sure we will continue to discuss ways we can partner to leverage our resources and have a bigger impact together!

Alicia Quinn & I met up with Deb Martin, CEO of ElderHelp, to discuss a potential joint grant opportunity. This is exciting to explore because it truly exemplifies our desire to partner with others in the community to leverage resources in order to transform lives! More to follow from this opportunity, I hope!

That evening, I stopped by the San Diego Business Journal event highlighting the CEOs of the Year nominees. I am honored to be recognized as a nominee amongst a group of exceptional CEOs! As always, this was an excellent opportunity to network with friends and meet new people.

That wasn’t my last stop as I was part of a panel for Women United to talk about my experience as a working mom. Joining me on the panel was Elizabeth Schott, CEO of Southern California Accion, and Wendy Hunter, MD at Children’s Primary Care Medical Group. Held at Green Acres, over 50 women joined us to talk about the various stages of child-rearing we represented—from twin 2-year-olds and a 5-year-old to teens and a grown adult. The similarities we faced were the decisions we made along the way to do what we thought was best—from changing from a high stress job, to managing staff expectations around availability, and postponing advancement until it was more practical. We also acknowledged the challenges along the way. The feedback we received was very positive!

June 20

Now that we have clarified our role in the community as one to work in partnership with others to align goals, there are many interesting conversations happening about where to get involved. Of course, as we work along the cradle-to-career pathway, children’s issues are top of mind. Today, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I had a great conversation about a broad-based, countywide strategic plan to address children’s issues. As this is a very broad topic, the challenge of bringing together all the organizations serving in this capacity is daunting. The need to ensure we are spending resources in the most effective manner with a long-range vision is imperative though.

That evening, I was invited to join a CEO dinner and roundtable discussion hosted by Moss Adams and Win Engelbrecht. There were many new people for me to meet over an interesting conversation about hiring and retaining talent in a multigenerational workplace. What do you experience? What policies are most impacted for your company? Very interesting topic!

June 21

Today was our Day of Action: A day that we give back to the community. We spent the morning at Olivewood Gardens, first learning about the history of both the location and the organization. Then they put us to work – breaking down a fence netting, pulling out the posts, and weeding the overgrown areas. We also potted new plants and cleaned up the garden areas; we cooed over the chickens and some even fed them. Then we were treated to a lunch catered by Kitchens for Good. This was a great way to spend time with our co-workers and feel good about the way we supported Olivewood Gardens. Thanks to Jen Nation, CEO of Olivewood Gardens, for creating a great volunteer opportunity for us!

June 23

Aw… this afternoon I joined several others at the Central Library to say goodbye to Jay Hill, now the former CEO of the Library Foundation. After 16 years leading this organization, Jay has decided to step down. Hearing about all he has done to steer the work for the new Central Library as well as building or upgrading several other community libraries was inspiring. I wish Jay all the best in his next endeavor!

June 24

Yay! Today was the first day for our new COO – Shannon Gonzalez! Shannon will be responsible for the more administrative operations of our work, including finance, HR, administrative services, and IT. Welcome, Shannon!

I had a great discussion with Councilmember Chris Ward today about how United Way can work with the Regional Taskforce on the Homeless (RTFH) to leverage our expertise around volunteerism. Much is in the works already and joining with the RTFH will be fun and exciting!

After that meeting, I picked up Jim Woods, VP of Corporate Relations, and Alicia Quinn so we could meet with the CEO Greg Hunter, at Hunter Industries. They have a long history of supporting United Way and I wanted to provide an update on what we have been doing since our Community Breakfast in May. Scotty Lombardi also joined us, and he’s very interested in the work we’re doing in the North County. We were also able to talk about some of our new business strategies that will roll out in the new fiscal year. It’s important for us to be able to leverage resources to meet community need throughout our county!

I ended my day by meeting up with Nancy Jamison. As the former CEO of San Diego Grantmakers, Nancy continues to have her pulse on what’s happening in our county. I believe we solved some of the problems of the world, and now I have the responsibility to act on what I know!

June 25

On my way in to work, I stopped by the open house for newly named Nonprofit Solutions (formerly Nonprofit Management Solutions). Congratulations to Lenore Lowe, Executive Director, for both the new location and the new name! Although it isn’t significantly different, they are now known as Nonprofit Solutions and will continue to provide much-needed educational sessions and training, as well as our community access to the online Foundation Directory!

Many thanks to Jabez LeBret, Chief of Schools at Sisu Academy, for the connection to Debleena Biswas. We met today and had a wonderful conversation about communication strategies, children issues, and long-term planning.

What a nice way to end my day by meeting up with Oliver Welty, a long-time friend and professional colleague. We had an opportunity to talk about the work the Welty Group provided United Way last year about fundraising strategies and revenue development. Great insights and items for me to continue to think about as we evolve our philanthropic marketplace— a way to provide choices for people to give back to the community through time, talent, and treasure.

June 26

What fun! I got to observe a recording of the “A Way with Words” radio show. Even as we were listening to Grant & Martha record the show, those of us observing engaged in some of our own discussions. Someone asked about the phrase “dressed like Mrs. Astor’s pet horse” and a 9-year-old asked about the difference between immigrate and emigrate, and did you know R dissimulation exists? I was invited because of an upcoming community leadership award I will be receiving at their “Word for Word” gala in September.

June 27

As the chair of the planning committee for National Philanthropy Day, I held our second meeting this morning to continue to shape the day. Please save Monday, November 4, 2019, for NPD at the Town and Country Resort. All the nominations are in, and winners will be selected by the Honorary Committee. Even after our second meeting, the day is already shaping up. It will be our opportunity, as a community, to recognize the amazing people and organizations/companies who support nonprofit work throughout San Diego County.

Wow – Rosa Ana Lozada connected me with Dr. Jeff Rowe, of the ChildTrauma Academy, to talk about the children’s collaborative meeting in San Diego. I learned so much from him about what is happening in our county. Not only are many issues being addressed, but there are also many not being addressed. They all impact our children, and many of them impact their ability to be successful along the learning and education pathway from cradle to career. I would love to find a way for United Way to be a part of a collaborative addressing these issues in some capacity because it is imperative for children’s future as well as the future of our community.

Later in the afternoon, Alicia Quinn & I met with staff at Tablecloth to learn more about what they are doing to enhance the use of data and the ability to collaborate around data and data visualization. Many thanks, Chief Technology Officer Kelly Abbott, Chief Impact Officer Nelli Garton, and intern Lindsay for showing us what you have created and the discussion around what we might do together.

Last but certainly not least, I stopped by to see what was happening with Emerging Leaders at the Loma Club. Awesome job, Senior Development Executive Alli Temnick, for putting this together and hosting the many emerging leaders who stopped by. This group also visits many area businesses to learn about their work and the leadership issues they face. Two of this year’s highlight events, among others, were hosted by Southwest Airlines and the Airport Authority.

Nancy’s Blog: May 2019 Part 2 Out & About

By |2021-05-28T16:12:05-07:00July 29th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: May 2019 Part 2 Out and About




It takes a village, indeed. Many moving parts were put into place to make our breakfast a sell-out on May 1. So many highlights to recall and people to thank! As planned, we rolled out our new messaging to clarify the role of United Way: United Way of San Diego County, in partnership with others, aligns goals, leverages resources and expertise to resolve inequities and transform the lives of children, young adults and families. The dynamic Dr. Pedro Noguera on educational equity and the community’s essential role; our charming emcee, KUSI’s anchor/reporter Elizabeth Alvarez, going live; and all of our wonderful community partners, supporters, and friends. Thanks o everyone, including our all-hands-on-dec,k hard-working UWSD staff, for making this such a successful event.

May 2

Opportunity Impact with San Diego Workforce Partnership – great to see how youth can thrive and be productive members of our community! Congratulations, Peter Callstrom & Andy Hall for a great summit.

That evening I stopped by the Monarch School Raise Up for Children event. Another place where the kids will absolutely amaze you! The younger ones greeted guests as they arrived; others shared their robotics work along with sports activities. A young boy in the kitchen talked about nutrition while making the fruit skewers. It’s easy to forget they are homeless, but it shouldn’t be. Congratulations to Erin Spiewak for a wonderful event and for continuing to make a safe learning environment for these kids, who will now be able to forge a different future because of what they learn and do at the Monarch School.

Continuing to support the work that supports kids, I also attended the Eat. Drink. Read. event hosted by Jose L. Cruz at the Council on LiteracyIn order to transform the lives of children, literacy is a key component.

May 3

Following up from the breakfast, I had an interview with LaTanya West from Voice & Viewpoint. Clearly, the inequities children and young adults experience on the education and learning pathway must be addressed by aligning community goals and leveraging resources to work with our partner organizations.

May 4

The invitation said cocktail attire, but I was the only one in an evening gown! Oh well, to be able to support the Miramar College Scholarship Foundation was worth the fashion faux pas! Obviously, surrounding students with the support they need from cradle to career is critical to their success. Students in community college can thrive when they have the support of the college as well as the community!

May 6

Since our Community Breakfast coincided with the United Way Worldwide’s annual meeting, I was able to get the latest and greatest from our Regional Rep, Bill Kitson. Along the same lines as what we’re doing, the Worldwide community is launching a modern United Way! Community, Equity, Solutions, Experiences, Best in Class, and Leveraging resources! Bill has been a great resource for me in my long tenure of 7 months…

May 7

Talk about equity and diversity—thanks to Dan Hom for the invitation to celebrate Asian Heritage Month at the University Club. As we work on the CountMe 2020 census campaign, it will be imperative that our partner organizations reach all of our rich diverse communities in San Diego & Imperial Counties. Connecting with the leaders in our community will bring important alignment of goals, starting now and going through 2020!

May 8

Although I was on the search committee for San Diego Grantmakers, it was great to be able to spend some time to get to know the new CEO, Debbie McKeon, today. It’s hard to believe I was once on the path of feeling overwhelmed with all the information I was learning during my first month. Fortunately, Debbie comes in with a lot of experience and now she can spend her time learning about San Diego. We were able to talk about what the future could hold and how we could partner to align the interests of her membership with the goals of the community we are working with! Welcome to San Diego, Debbie!

That evening, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, Jim Woods, VP of Corporate Relations, and I joined Event Chair (Barrio Logan College Institute) and VP of New Business Development (UWSD) Alicia Quinn at their event. Excellent food and company as well as the welcome by Rafael & Angie Castellano. Once again, we heard about the success of a young adult who was nurtured and supported along her education pathway and into a successful future.

May 9

One of the fun things we do internally is to hold a Meet & Greet for new employees, even those who are temporary for the summer. Today, we welcomed Na’eema Johnson and David Lee. It’s an opportunity to grill them – well, ask questions – and learn about their history and the journey that brought them to United Way. Welcome to UWSD!

May 10

I started the morning with the CEO get-together hosted by Betsy Brennan, CEO, Downtown San Diego Partnership and Rip Rippetoe, CEO, San Diego Convention Center. Thanks to Peter Callstrom for their conference room at San Diego Workforce Partnership. This was an excellent way to learn about the planning process for transit with Council President Georgette Gomez and SANDAG’s Hasan Ikhrata. This group gets together to talk about the issues we are facing at a macro level. I look forward to talking about the census work we are doing along withSANDAG at a future meeting!

May 10

David Mulvaney attended our community breakfast on May 1st= and invited me to the Doris Howell Foundation luncheon. David’s father, Jim Mulvaney, was very involved with United Way at the local, US & International levels! The foundation provides scholarships to university students who are doing research around women’s health.

That evening, I attended the Fostering Futures Gala, hosted by Jeff Weimann, CEO. With a focus on children age 0-5, Angels Foster Family Network connects children in the foster care system with loving adults, many of whom go on to adopt the foster children they care for. United Way is learning more and more about the education enrichment activities for children in the age group to ensure they are kindergarten ready.

May 11

I attended the 50th anniversary gala for the Chicano Federation at the US Grant. Congratulations to Nancy Maldonado, CEO, for a fun evening. The Chicano Federation is dedicated to creating impactful changes in the day-to-day lives of San Diego families who want to create a safe, stable life for themselves and opportunities for their children. They have programs for infants and toddlers (in the home) and preschool, but they don’t stop there! They also manage 9 apartment complexes as well as child nutrition through their daycare home network.

Due to a bit of a miscommunication, I wound up at the central processing plant for the US mail in San Diego County! I did have an opportunity to mingle with the union workers who had volunteered to help process the hundreds of pounds of food collected during the day for the “Stamp out Hunger” Mail Carriers Food Drive with the U.S. postal service. We can’t thank the volunteers enough for their participation as well as the postal workers who pick up the food, all the way to the people in our community who donate food for this cause. This is an example of how we leverage resources to transform lives in San Diego County!

May 14

The UPAC Leadership Awards Dinner is a great gala celebrating various leaders in our community. I was especially impressed with William Alvarez, who was recognized for his role with the young entrepreneurs group. His ability to recognize his own growth and contribution was refreshing as was the sincere thanks he gave to those who helped him along his path. We look forward to the opportunity to partner with these organizations to ensure more young people, like William, are given a chance to connect to meaningful work as they transition to either college or career.

May 16

I stopped by the AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) reception where they were hosting Mike Geiger, CEO of AFP. It was great to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a while and learn more about what they are doing. Everything from capital campaigns to fundraising challenges were topics of conversation!

For dinner, I got to share a meal with Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego. I’ve worked with Vince for many years and enjoy talking with him about the problems in the world! My last question was to know what his biggest challenge is these days. With recent legislation that will fine food sources for throwing out food, his challenge is to find places that will take the food they pick up. Even organizations that aren’t food distribution sites may be working with people in need of food. If you want to learn more about what it would take for your site to participate give Vince a call (I hope that’s okay, Vince!).

May 17

It was an early morning celebration at the LGBT Center’s Harvey Milk Breakfast. I don’t think I’ve heard Nicole Murray-Ramirez be so funny, nor Cara Dessert, CEO, be more passionate. The flags of “justice” were reminders of the multitude of areas where we need to improve – whether it is reproductive health justice, racial justice, LGBT justice, economic justice, immigrant justice, or environmental justice. It is the inequities in these areas that also impact children, young adults, and families.

I left the breakfast to attend the launch of the End Childhood Poverty Bus Tour to Sacramento. The event was held at Castle High School and several students attended. Much of the work of United Way and our partners is in an effort to end childhood poverty by strengthening access to education and learning from cradle to career. It was great to see such strong community support for this initiative.

For lunch, I visited Eli Lilly to support our staff in thanking the employees at Eli Lilly for their hugely successful campaign! Not only did we have increased giving, but we also gained 23 new donors. Congratulations to Stacey Carrillo, who manages this campaign, and to VP of Corporate Relations, Jim Woods, who coordinates all of our campaign efforts.

May 18

One of our summer achievement partners is Traveling Stories. Their fundraising event was at Second Chance Brewery with a silent and live auction. The fun part was the story tent for the kids where volunteers and Traveling Stories staff read books. I invited some of my friends to learn more about Traveling Stories and enjoyed talking with many of their supporters!

May 19

VP, New Business Development, Alicia Quinn & I attended the reception for Fuel Ed at the beautiful home of Brian & Suzanne Marcus and co-hosted with Rachel ZahnMegan Marcus started Fuel Ed because of what she learned about brain development and learning. Teaching teachers how to manage their triggers and to understand their relationships with the children has shown improvements in attendance and achievement scores. Dr. Lou Cozolino was also insightful about the importance of this work and was able to talk about neuroscience in a way that we could all understand! We also heard from a teacher who has been through the Fuel Ed program talk about, not only the change in herself but, the change in her relationships with the kids and their parents.

May 20-23

Nothing like jury duty to open up your schedule… This week, I was instructed to call in each night. There was no way to commit to meetings except for those that were internal. It’s definitely important to serve your civic duty, but calling in each night was pretty rough on my scheduling!

May 23

In partnership with San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation, United Way, SDG&E, and the City of San Diego supported a study on Millennials in the Workplace. Led by Sean KarafinVP of Public Policy & Economic Research, the study found that “millennial employees … want purpose, supportive supervisors who provide development opportunities, and affordable places to live.” Millennials now represent the largest segment of the workforce and businesses are wise to build a workforce culture that supports their interests. Our VP of Corporate Relations Jim Woods also answered questions from the media regarding workplace culture and employee engagement.

That evening, I had a chance to meet the Bank of America Student Leaders who will be interning throughout the summer. Juan, Rosario, Nisha, & Alondra will intern with Community HousingWorks and take a one-week trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with congressional and other leaders while there. Julian Parra, Mia Spano, & Mary Noor with Bank of America welcomed the group.

May 24

A huge thank you goes to Michele Silverthorn, who is leading the United Way coalition CountMe 2020. This incredible group of over 100 community partners will be working to ensure those who are “hard to count” are educated and informed of the importance of completing the census in 2020. More than 250,000 people are considered hard to count in San Diego & Imperial Counties. As a part of our efforts in family stability, we recognize that an accurate census count will be necessary to determine federal funding allocations for programs like SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, and transportation. Today, I talked with the group about United Way’s role in aligning goals and leveraging resources and their expertise to ensure we can adequately address some of the inequities impacting children, young adults, and families.

May 30

Every quarter, the Regional Taskforce on the Homeless (RTFH) holds an Intergovernmental roundtable. At this meeting, RTFH leadership highlighted the findings of the recent Point in Time Count(“We All Count”). More than 1,500 volunteers spread out across the county to count the homeless. They found 3,626 homeless living on the streets and 4,476 in shelters. 10% are veterans, 36% have a disability, 12% are under the age of 24, and 3% have at least one child. During this meeting, it was emphasized that this only represents what can be done at that point in time. It underrepresents the actual count because of the count guidelines from HUD (Housing & Urban Development). More information about the true count will follow later this year.

Nancy’s Blog: May 2019 Part 1 Community Listening

By |2021-05-28T16:12:39-07:00July 28th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Community Listening Creates Learning: How We Applied Design Thinking to Solve Our Own Problems

When I took the position as CEO, I knew there would be challenges.

Throughout my interview process, people I talked to said that they hadn’t heard of United Way, and if they had, they weren’t sure what it was doing. After I joined, I realized we had real problems to address, but I knew the staff and I were prepared to address them…together. What we needed first was an approach that worked for us.

I knew about Design Thinking from my work with Kevin Popovic, aka, The Idea Guy™, https://theideaguy.us, who had helped me address problems at Alliance Healthcare Foundation. I was confident he could help me again. Our Marketing Department would also be an important resource since they were helping us communicate to the community.

Together, we engaged in a “Design Thinking” strategy with a specific methodology. We translated that outline into a process that worked for us. It started with a problem statement, and after gathering many opinions – because everyone has one! – here’s where it landed:


How might United Way of San Diego County best communicate who we are, what we do, and who we help to the people in the San Diego community?

What did people think of us? We needed to find out what they already knew and what they thought they knew and ask them to tell us. We needed to build an emotional connection, to Empathize. We found out we were confusing everyone, that every description of UWSD was different, depending on when and where it was posted. No wonder no one knew what we did!

It was time to reach out directly to our community – in blog posts, on social media, in emails – with a survey that asked some tough questions.

We offered online webinars to speak to groups of people in our community. They were glad we were listening and wanted to learn more. So we followed with focus groups and interviews with folks who knew us well or not at all. We needed everybody’s input to truly capture the many perspectives within our region.

The next stage, Define, meant challenging the problem statement: we had to confirm what we learned to make sure we were working on the right problem. Here’s what we heard, and it wasn’t pretty:

  • 60% don’t think they can easily find information about us.
  • One of every four people don’t know what our goals are and, therefore,
  • 66% weren’t sure they could trust us to accomplish those goals.

Could we win y’all back? We thought we could, and we had a plan to make that happen

  • Rebuild Trust
    • Prove we do what we say we do
    • Share stories, create storytellers, enable advocates
    • Align to goals, name partners, include outcomes

So we knew the problem, but did we really understand it from all perspectives? We needed to look at the problem through different types of people – 16 “personas” – including donors, partners, and those we serve, to make sure we were reading with the right pair of glasses.

So much new information! It was time for an updated problem statement:

How might United Way of San Diego County increase access to information, better educate the community on our work, and build trust within our community?

We came up with lots and lots of possible solutions to our problem. Even our staff put in their two cents on multi-colored Post-its in our hallway. Creative collaboration was in full force! We collected all those ideas and shared them at 11 salons held across the county. Talking, listening, making changes, and then back to the drawing board: more salons, more meetings, and more feedback. All of it was absolutely necessary. It was vitally important to me that you knew we heard what the community said they wanted from us, and we were determined to follow through.

We finally settled on language that reflected our intent and our goals.

We strengthen our community when we align, leverage, and transform.

We had our watchwords and our intentions were clear:

  • We ALIGN with our partners to identify sustainable, long-term goals we want to achieve together.
  • We LEVERAGE the use of data and our partners’ expertise to better understand root causes, and put impactful solutions into action.
  • We TRANSFORM the lives of children, young adults, and families

With the right words in place, we were ready to deliver the message: in brochures, in banners, in posters, in press releases. We were ready to share our words … But first, we needed to put it to the Test.

Which brings me to this morning’s breakfast, where we shared our message, our intention, our direction, and our clarity with our key stakeholders. Our community! Our partners, our supporters, our donors, our friends, our colleagues and our business leaders.

We hope you’ll come along for the ride with us, in this new direction, with its clear communication about what we’re doing and why and who it benefits. We think it benefits our whole community. Everyone is included … Because the only way we’ll get there is together!

We hope you’ll align with United Way. That you’ll partner with us and others so that together, we can transform lives in our community.

By Nancy Sasaki, CEO, United Way of San Diego County

Go to Top