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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

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Nancy’s Blog: April 2019

By |2021-05-27T09:55:23-07:00July 28th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: April 2019

group of people take a selfie



April 1

No fooling, the Cesar Chavez breakfast presented by the Bomberos de San Diego was a great opportunity to learn more about their volunteer work in the community. The most recent was to beautify Cesar Chavez Elementary. Thanks to SDG&E for the invitation and Warren Ruiz.

Later that morning, I participated in the press conference to announce the work of Census 2020 and the CountMe2020 Coalition. United Way was awarded the contract from the State to do education and outreach to the hard-to-count populations throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. The census information is used to determine federal funding allocations such as SNAP (food stamps) and Medicare, which are important to our family stability work. We will align the more than 100+ community partners to ensure we are leveraging the underfunded resources to determine the most complete and accurate count possible. Many thanks to Supervisor Nathan Fletcher for kicking off the press conference and for his support for this project.

April 3

What a great way to start my morning meeting with Rosa Ana Lozada, Executive Director, Harmonium. She is promoting wellbeing and self-sufficiency in children, young adults, and families. Her dedication—not only to her organization but to the betterment of our community—was evident in our discussion. I also learned more about the existing collaboration of organizations exploring opportunities to transform systems.

I got to catch up with Donnie Dee, CEO, Rescue Mission, and learn about the broad range of services they are offering. It was a great chance to recall my first experiences at Rescue Mission as they opened their Children’s Center to provide educational opportunities for the children of the homeless who were there for the day. I can only imagine that this early trauma will impact their ability to be ready for kindergarten, but thankfully they the Children’s Center to prepare them.

That evening I participated in a learning discussion with the ACLU and the Museum of Man about Race, Equity, and Privilege. This is such an important topic that can bring up many memories, experiences, and emotions. We will not be able to fully address inequities in our community without holding such open and honest conversations.

April 4

Along with other community leaders, I was asked to participate on Bank of America’s Student Leaders Selection Committee. We read applications from area Juniors and Seniors that confirmed my hope for the future leaders from San Diego. It was a hard decision, but I look forward to watching these young people learn and grow during this experience!

This afternoon I met with Dorothy Zirkle and staff from Santana High School. I was surprised to have a conversation with them about the ongoing traumatic effects this community has endured after experiencing a school shooting in 2001. As a close-knit community, the kids in junior high are the kids of the survivors of that horrific tragedy. The question we pondered was whether the annual commemoration of the shooting was re-traumatizing not only the parents but also the community overall. Feedback from the junior high kids shows some fear of going to Santana High. Have other incidences of such magnitude had the same experience years later?

April 5

Oh my, 6:00 a.m. is really early to be on camera ready and talking! This morning, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent, Cindy Marten, and I were at KUSI studios to talk about Saturday’s event with free pre-school registration and free tax preparation for Earned Income Tax Credits. Many people don’t know about either, and many are missing out on federal and state tax refunds!

April 6

Busy day— I stopped by Chollas Mead Elementary School to see how the event was going. By the time I left, over 100 people had stopped by to learn about free pre-school and to have their taxes done to determine if they were eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits. Feeding San Diego provided fruit and potatoes, and many enjoyed other refreshments as well.

That evening, I attended the reception for Home Start to show our support for the housing they provide, especially for single moms and their kids. I left just in time to make the dinner for the National Conflict Resolution Center, hosted by Bank of America’s Mia Spano. Bank of America has been a long-time supporter of United Way with grants and workplace giving opportunities.

April 8-10

Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I attended the ASUGSV Summit in San Diego. It was our first time attending this meeting, and from my perspective, I was really impressed. ASUGSV stands for Arizona State University Global Silicon Valley. Although there was a heavy emphasis on higher education, there was also a new (apparently) interest in early childhood learning. My favorite Sesame Street character – Elmo – was there. (I must admit: it’s a close race with Ernie!) They talked about how much has changed and how much has stayed the same on Sesame Street in the 50 years since it started. One of my favorite discussion panels was with Andre Agassi. Not only because I loved watching him play tennis, but also because of his journey and his role in opening his education academies. One interesting thing he said (among many) was that he isn’t a proponent of charter schools … just the 15% that outperform their public school counterparts.

April 8

A fun event to watch the March Madness finals with Insperity at Ballast Point this evening. It was a great way to network with other businesses and nonprofits while Insperity staff also raise funds to distribute to their nonprofit partners.

April 13

Working with community partners on family stability, I stopped by the Feeding San Diego event in Encinitas. Their “Pairing with a Purpose” event raises funds for the food that is distributed to those facing food insecurity. Over 420,000 people in our community are unsure where their next meal will come from. Leveraging our resources is what it will take to make a difference!

April 15

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Jeff Wiemann for many years. As the CEO at Angels Foster Family Network, he has a singular focus on the foster children from 0–5 years of age. We caught up today so I could learn more about the work happening in our community for this age group. He gave me homework: Reading materials to bring me up-to-speed. So much collaboration is already happening in this area, yet still, I see some needs where United Way could align goals and leverage resources!

I ended the day at the San Diego Zoo (no, it wasn’t to say goodbye to the pandas, although I was secretly hoping I could! Instead, the San Diego Zoo commissioned Blair Search Partners to conduct a compensation survey of the largest nonprofit organizations. The focus was on the CEO and fundraising positions. Presented by Trevor Blair, Principal & Founder, and Liliane Lendvai, Director, the findings have already been used to adjust compensation in line with the market. It was also great to have such a discussion with other like-sized organizations.

April 16

Many thanks to UC San Diego – specifically Zachary Schlagel and David Mier – for the invitation to the Padres game tonight! Although they didn’t win, it was great to meet up with others including Vernita Gutierrez, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest; Nancy Maldonado, Chicano Federation; Jesse – friend of Zach’s; and Jonathan Castillo, PATH San Diego!

April 17

Lots of meetings today, but one I’ve never been to was Casa Cornelia. I’ve heard a lot about their work with asylum seekers, and they have certainly risen to the top of the news! I was impressed with the work they are doing, the problems they overcome, and the special circumstances that impact those seeking asylum in our country. My concern is definitely with the children, who have experienced unfathomable trauma, and who will end up in our education system without having that trauma addressed. The children’s ability to learn and thrive is greatly impacted. We must come together to align our strategies to serve these children, young adults, and families.

April 18

With the theme of Buzz Lightyear – To Infinity & Beyond – all staff at United Way of San Diego County spent most of the day testing and practicing our new messages, learning about new business strategies, bonding/team building, and hearing firsthand about the breakfast presentation and volunteer opportunities!

Alicia Quinn, VP of New Business Strategies, and I also went to hear about Innovation City at the Third Thirsty Impact Thursday gathering. The San Diego Impact Investors Network brings impact investors together to learn about innovative programs in our community. As we look at new business strategies for United Way, we always want to be in the loop with what’s happening!

four women smiling in front of sign that says san diego oasis lifelong adventure

April 23

Alicia Quinn and I visited at San Diego Oasis in the Grossmont Shopping Center. Once again, I was amazed at the number of programs they are providing for older adults – not only in La Mesa but throughout the County! Alicia & I jumped in on a dance class, but quickly realized we would gain more by talking through potential partnerships with CEO, Simone Valanciute, and VP External Relations, Jolyn Parker. Currently, they have 700+ volunteers, who they have trained to be tutors, working with students to build confidence and success in school!

I also met with Prabha Singh to learn more about her search for the right place that utilizes her strengths and experience. It was impressive to hear how well connected she is and the variety of programs she has worked with, especially in the HIV area. I hope some of my suggestions will be helpful!

I ended the day with Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, at Community Housing Works in National City. Their 201 units at Paradise Creek are offering not only housing but also learning programs for kids who aren’t at grade level, health and wellness activities, plus education experiences for the older adults. I told them about the programs offered by San Diego Oasis and – who knows? – maybe there’s a partnership in the making!

April 24

Congratulations to 211/CIE San Diego for hosting an amazing summit this week. I was invited to participate as a panel moderator on the topic of Mobilizing a Community for Transformational Change. Panel participants included 211 staff Tanissha Harrell and Roxanne Suarez as well as Kenneth Robinson, Cecelia Johnson-Powell from United Way of the Mid-South (Memphis) and Alisa Haushalter from theShelby County Health Department (Memphis). The conversation focused on what it takes to foster person-centered care across a community and service delivery ecosystem.

In the afternoon a small group of us – Sean Kerafin, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Haney Hong, San Diego Taxpayers Association, met with representatives from Corporation for SupportiveHousing to discuss the strategic plan they have been contracted to provide for the San Diego Housing Commission on behalf of the City of San Diego. Insights, hope, and frustrations were all expressed in an effort to create a unified plan that our community can get behind and implement!

April 25

What an honor! I was asked to emcee a short program at the CIE Summit this evening! I got to welcome the guests who had come to the conference from 35 different states! I also introduced Supervisor Greg Cox, a longtime champion of 211, and Councilmember Chris Ward, also a champion for 211! Finally, I introduced CEO John Ohanian who closed out the brief program. After the reception, Jim Woods, VP of Resource Development, Alicia Quinn, VP of New Business Strategies, and I met up with our colleagues from United Way of St. Louis. We took the opportunity to learn more about some of their new business strategies, and how they implemented them at their organization.

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Nancy’s Blog: March 2019

By |2021-05-28T16:12:23-07:00April 9th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: March 2019

four individuals smiling at a baseball game



Mar 1

Today we celebrated Read Across America Day in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday! I was at Edison Elementary School and tagged along with Xiomara Arroyo from Wells Fargo while she read to the students. The book she read was about sharks and she asked the kids about their favorite shark at the end of the book!

That evening I caught up with Nancy Jamison, former CEO at San Diego Grantmakers. Although she is enjoying her retirement for now, I will be excited to see where she lands next. Her insights and invaluable perspective on the role of philanthropy will always be important to our community.

Mar 2

Congratulations to Nancy Maldonado on her appointment as the CEO of the Chicano Federation! Many thanks to hosts Mario and Linda Sierra for opening their home and to Chicano Federation board chair, Ted Martinez, and his wife, Lidia Martinez, Community Affairs & Grassroots Manager at Southwest Airlines, for their leadership. I’m looking forward to finding ways to partner with Chicano Federation, especially around early childhood success.

Mar 4

We celebrated Employee Appreciation Day one workday late. Pizza and board games livened up the party! I work with the best staff. They are hardworking and very dedicated to our mission!

Although I’ve been asked to meet with someone exploring the nonprofit area, it was a first to be asked to be shadowed! Diana Grant-Davie, Department Assistant in the Offices of Strengths and Vocation at Point Loma Nazarene University, accompanied me to two of my meetings today. One was a conference call with United Way Worldwide talking about next steps after CEO Brian Gallagher’s visit to the border. The second meeting was to talk about the upcoming breakfast and some of the strategies we are considering. I hope it was useful for her!

I closed the day having happy hour with Don Stump, CEO, North County Lifeline. As we’re looking to bring our work and strengths to all areas of the county, I wanted to get Don’s feedback on what’s going on in education in his area. We’ve ended our relationship with the Vista Partnership for Children as Vista Unified School District begins to coordinate more of those activities.

Mar 5

Jim Woods, VP Resource Development, and I headed north to meet with GEICO leadership this morning. As a real all-time first, we were turned away because the road was blocked due to a gas leak! Come to find out that the gas leak was at GEICO! Timing is everything and we will reschedule…

But we were successful in meeting with Manuel Rodriguez, Market President; Rockette Ewell, Community Development Manager Southern CA; and Jennifer Roane, District Manager at US Bank. Their workplace campaign reaches 100 of their staff, so we explored ways of reaching even more and bringing in some employee volunteer/employee engagement options as well. I’m really looking forward to our upcoming campaigns!

Mar 6

Oh so fun to meet up with Ginny Merrifield, to get her feedback on our salon strategy, and learn more about her insights to the work at United Way. I’ve been working with Ginny since her days at the Gary & Mary West Foundation and my days at Alliance Healthcare Foundation. Once again, we find ourselves in a place where we have mutual and overlapping ideas of how we can have a greater impact!

I also met up with Andrea Yoder Clark, Senior Director, Marketing Analytics, Bridgepoint Education, to get more insights into what she’s doing and how we can use data to drive decisions. Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer and I are exploring ways we can either expand our data capabilities or work with our community to connect with data resources.

Mar 7

I just recently joined the board at 211 San Diego, though I’ve been connected to the work of 211 since 2011. Did you know that in most United Ways, 211 is an internal program? Some years ago, we separated company, but it still makes a lot of sense for us to be working together. Thanks Jon Grissom, Board Chair, John Ohanian, CEO, and Bill York, EVP, for the orientation today!

Mar 8

Jim Woods, VP Resource Development and I met with Brian Newman, Regional Vice President for Enterprise, this morning. We explored ways to introduce more of the district staff to the benefits of United Way as well as ways to encourage giving.

Mar 11

My first meeting with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Execs Connect! Definitely an impressive group of leaders meeting over dinner to learn about some of the issues we are all facing. Tonight’s guest speaker was Mayor Kevin Faulconer. I had the opportunity to network with many business leaders, many of whom know about the work of United Way. Many thanks to Rana Sampson, Community Relations Ambassador at Union Bank, for shepherding me through my first meeting! Did you know the mayor likes to sail?

Mar 12

Jim Woods, VP of Resource Development and I met with Chris Henn at the Wawanesa offices this morning. Their services focus on California and especially Southern CA! They have a very active campaign with United Way and we explored ways to do more with them and their employees!

Mar 13

When a United Way colleague in South Dakota asked me to talk with his daughter about working in the nonprofit field in San Diego, it was my pleasure to help. I met with Betsy Powell today who is looking to transfer her education in kinesiology into the world of nonprofits! Of course, I thought of all the great organizations creating active lifestyles for the people they’re working with. Our whole community benefits when we’re able to keep talent in our region!

Mar 14

This morning I presented before our Emerging Leaders group to talk about our work with the brand assessment survey, messaging, and shaping a direction for the organization into the future. I tailored the presentation to talk about how I was creating and thinking about the work that needed to be done from a leadership perspective. Hopefully, I imparted some useful tools for them to use in their leadership positions!

Mar 15

Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer and I had lunch with Nancy Gannon Hornberger, CEO, SAY San Diego. I have been in this role for six months now and I am still learning about our partnerships in the community. I’m learning many positives and also some lessons about how we can be strong partners with community organizations. SAY San Diego has been our partner since the beginning of the Partnership for Children and more recently with the Census 2020 work. Thank you SAY San Diego!

I also met with Executive Coach David Highly who is looking to give back to the nonprofit community, especially in organizations working with children. Thank you, Pat Libby, for sending David my way! I hope I was able to give him some good leads for pro bono executive coaching…

This afternoon we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in the office. All week the Employee Action Team hid a leprechaun in the office, and staff were encouraged to take a selfie with the leprechaun. Your selfie was your entry for a prize drawing at the celebration. Thank you to Mitchell for leading the effort!

Mar 18

I caught up with Jose Cruz, CEO, San Diego Council on Literacy, this afternoon at his office in Mission Valley. The work he is doing envisioning literacy for all is directly related to the work United Way is doing in partnership with other organizations.

Mar 20

Back when I was with the Foundation, I was looking for a SME (small-medium enterprise) on foster children that was not conflicted with one of the applicants. I was connected to a woman named Sarah Pauter! Sarah, the CEO of Phenomenal Families, and a real dynamite leader in our community. We had a chance to grab some lunch today and talk about foster care and her passion for making the system work for the children and youth it is trying to serve. I look forward to seeing what she creates for herself and the results of her tireless enthusiasm for making a difference!

Many thanks to Paul Johnson, Union Bank, for the invitation to join his table at the Kyoto Prize ceremony. I was so impressed with the innovation and accomplishments of those receiving the awards. The young people who were given scholarships were just as impressive! Most had started a nonprofit, many had created products that were innovative, less costly to make and more transportable, as well as exploring complex issues and asking provocative, in-depth questions!

Mar 21

This morning I hosted a “Kearny Mesa Nonprofit District” breakfast! As I’m new to this area in my role, and as others have moved into the area, I thought it would be fun to meet each other. Many thanks to Michael Hopkins, Jewish Family Service; Dan Chavez, San Diego Health Connect; Teresa Stivers Liong, Walden Family Services; Adama Dyoniziak, Champions for Health; Beth Sirull, Jewish Community Foundation; Ed Quinlan, CHIP; Deb Martin, ElderHelp; Sean Mahoney, American Red Cross; Stephanie Ortega, COO, Promises2Kids; and me!

Mar 22

Mel & Linda Katz are community connectors extraordinaire! Today they hosted a table at the Las Manitas Breakfast focused on the Ceasar Chavez Service Clubs and the Chavinistas work in many schools around the county. Once again, I was impressed with the talents and strengths of these young people!

Mar 25

Many years ago, I used to work with Tad Parzen when he was starting the City Heights Partnership for Children. It’s funny how some people come back into your life after years pass by. It was great to tell Tad about all the things I am doing at United Way in my new role. Getting his insights is always welcome as well.

Mar 26

I attended my first meeting of the Count Me 2020 coalition today with Michele Silverthornleading the collaborative. It was great to see so many familiar faces in the group and to meet so many new people. Michele confirmed the contract award to the coalition to do the outreach needed to ensure the hard-to-count populations are included in the 2020 census. There was also great input from the community as it becomes more and more clear that we are all committed to doing this work, but the dollars still fall short. That said, this is the first time the State has allocated money just for the education and outreach effort! Working groups were also established, and more will be coming back to the full coalition. If you want to get involved, please email Michele at .

Mar 27

I missed the opportunity to join the #WomenUnited group at the Women Who Wine on Wednesday get-together! If you don’t want to miss out on all the wonderful activities of Women United, make sure you join here.

Mar 28

A few months ago, I met Haney Hong, CEO, San Diego County Taxpayers Association, at a meeting. We agreed to get together and today was the day! It was good to learn more about what the Taxpayers Association is doing and how they have changed over the years. I’m starting to hear about more and more organizations that are re-evaluating their role, re-positioning themselves in the community, and clarifying their messages. The more I talk with them, the more I learn about the continuum and pathway we each follow to do this work! Are you on this pathway, too?

Many thanks to California Bank & Trust and especially Jacob Richards for the invitation to Opening Day with the Padres! I was hoping to see a hit by Manny Machado, but I will definitely settle for a WIN!

After the game, I changed and headed over to the Educational Cultural Center to hear Senator Toni Atkins and others talk about the priorities in the State budget. I’m definitely keeping my eye on the strategies that will be developing in the budget regarding early childhood education and career pathways!

Mar 29

Congratulations to Laura Kohn, San Diego Workforce Partnership, for bringing together the coalition addressing career pathways and childcare needs with Third Sector. Much more to come from this group as they outline the areas of greatest need and the strategies to address them.

More congratulations are in order for my former colleague, Nancy Jamison, who was honored today as a Girl Scouts “Cool Woman”! Nancy has been an impressive leader and visionary in our community as she led San Diego Grantmakers. It was also impressive to hear from the Girl Scouts about their goals and activities. Creating pathways for young people to learn from cradle to career needs to be as smooth and efficient as possible!

group of women pose for a picture by a table at an event

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Nancy’s Blog: February 2019

By |2021-05-27T09:58:03-07:00March 11th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: February 2019

people standing on a stage



The more visits I make around our county, the more I realize the variety of resources we share and the number of opportunities we have to collaborate on behalf of our community. So many innovative ideas are coming out of San Diego organizations that want more for our region’s future, just as United Way does. I can’t wait to work together with these CEOs and their businesses, foundations, nonprofits, and school districts to align ideas and leverage resources on behalf of local children, young adults, and families. Together, we’ll transform lives!

Feb 1

Today I got sent to the Superintendent’s office! But I wasn’t in trouble – instead, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer and I met with Superintendent Dr. Linda Kimble and Assistant Superintendent Matt Doyleat Vista Unified School District (VUSD) to talk about their idea to create a community learning center in their district. United Way may play a role in aligning community partners and leverage investments to impact early childhood success in VUSD.

Feb 4

A fellow United Way colleague, CEO Lisa Wright, United Way of Inland Valleys, came down to San Diego to learn more about our work – both as an individual United Way and as a neighbor United Ways. Lisa is 3 years into her role and has had an impact in their workplace giving campaigns by integrating their family stability work (EITC) with their workplace campaigns. She is also working with all 11 school districts in her area. I have much to learn from all my colleagues at United Way.

Feb 5

It has been a long time since I last saw Duane Trombley. We met for breakfast to talk about his work with the “Keep Kids Safe” program with the Safe Homes Coalition. This program is starting a door-to-door effort to reduce child access to drugs. I shared with Duane that it took me over a year to properly dispose of the drugs given to me when I broke 2 ribs because the dates and times of the twice-a-year programs didn’t work for me. Also, I learned that all CVS stores should have a box for disposing of these drugs – yet I hadn’t seen it at my CVS!

Feb 6

Have you heard of the Sisu Academy? I learned more about it and unique fundraising ideas by meeting with Jabez LeBret. In the throes of starting this new school concept, he is also recognizing the need to address other areas such as housing, human trafficking, food insecurity, and mental health. It makes me think United Way could play a role in bringing the various systems together to align our impact and leverage investments.

Feb 7

Brian Gallagher, CEO, United Way Worldwide, was in Mexico to learn through community partners in Tijuana about how migrants are coping with the situation along the border. We used it as an opportunity to host a breakfast for cross-sectional representatives to talk about how they are working on this side of the border and the challenges they face trying to coordinate efforts on both sides of the border. United Way of San Diego County has an interest in this area primarily because the children who are released on this side of the border could eventually enter our education system. Enabling early childhood success must also address the trauma of the children’s stories to ensure that their experience on the education pathway is as smooth as possible.

Continuing to learn about the impact of trauma on children and young adults, I attended the Philanthropy Roundtable hosted by The San Diego Foundation (Interim CEO Connie Matsui), Health & Human Services (Director Nick Machionne), and the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (Chelsea Clinton). The most impactful moment was hearing stories from two young adults about their path to building a successful life following years of trauma and poor choices. For each of them it was the nonprofit organization and the persistence of the staff that made a difference in their ability to see how they could change their path. They also had something in their lives that made them want to change – a daughter for one and a hopeful younger sister for the other. United Way is always looking for organizations in our community that are impacting children and young adults and to hear about their success along the education pathway.

Feb 8

I started this morning at KUSI for an interview with Bill York, Executive VP at 2-1-1 San Diego. We were talking about the start of tax season and the availability of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) and benefits sites throughout the county. Last year, 61 sites assisted 31,000 residents obtain over $40M in refunds! This year we hope to help even more. If you think you might be eligible, call 211 to find out and to set an appointment. You can also check out myfreetaxes.org for free tax assistance.

Feb 11

Late afternoon I had a chance to meet up with Lenise Andrade, nonprofit consultant and presenter. I’ve known Lenise for quite some time but haven’t had the chance to catch up with her goals and expertise. We talked a lot about changes in fundraising and how it’s impacting nonprofits.

Feb 12

United Way’s Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and Tia Anzellotti, VP of Partnerships—along with many partner organizations hosted the second Regional Impact Summit at the North Inland Live Well Center. This meeting followed up on the first summit in 2018, where community partners talked about moving their collective work forward. This year, partners discussed the need to raise the bar in order to think at the systems level to craft an approach that addresses education gaps in our community.

Feb 13

I met with Bob Copeland at SheppardMullin today to learn more about the work he’s doing with the Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation. Bob was able to catch me up on their history with United Way while I talked about our current role. We may be able to find ways to partner on K-12 education issues in the future.

Feb 14

With all this work, sometimes we all should take a break and celebrate with a little fun. Staff put together a cookie-decorating opportunity for employees to try their skills at icing heart-shaped cookies. I believe they were supposed to be taken home to a loved one – but I think most people just ate them!

Feb 16

I attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new LGBT Community Center in Chula Vista today. Providing a space for people in the LGBT community to go for camaraderie, education, support, and services has been long planned for the South Bay area. Congratulations to CEO Cara Dessert for this accomplishment!

Feb 19

I’m continuing to get to know my colleagues in United Way, so today I met with CEO Elise Buik at United Way Los Angeles and CEO Sue Parks, United Way Orange County. The meeting was coordinated by Pete Manzo, United Ways of CA. I learned a lot about how they run their workplace campaigns, how they’re looking at larger investment opportunities for donors, as well as their thoughts about events and working together. Although we are each focused on our own communities, we did agree to keep each other up-to-date on local events so we can support each other’s efforts.

Feb 20

It was great to hear Heather Martin, board member at Edwards Mother Earth Foundation, and Nick Flores, The Caprock Group, talk about the Foundation’s journey into impact investing and how they partnered with The Caprock Group to invest 100% of its endowment in climate solutions. As United Way explores the diversity of ways to give, we‘re interested in learning more about impact investing.

That evening Peter Zahn, Rachel Zahn, and Ellen Waddell with the Moxie Foundation hosted the Ashoka fellows at Duke’s in La Jolla. It was great to see so many providers and philanthropists in the room to learn about the changemaker fellows and their work. These fellows are focusing on building the will and the way to rewire systems and structures for social impact.

Feb 21

My first stop today was to welcome CEO Peter Callstrom and his staff at San Diego Workforce Partnerships to their new digs in Kearny Mesa — they are neighbors now! Their beautiful new space provides the room they need, at a rate that is less than before, and offers a large meeting space as well. They also launched their new logo and website. Congratulations and welcome!

Later I attended the San Diego Grantmakers’ meeting of the Early Childhood Collaborative. Chaired by Judy McDonald, the participants are all interested in the best practices to ensure children are better prepared when they enter kindergarten. Members present were Shana Hazan, Sandra Timmons, Katie Rast, Connie Matsui, David Lynn, Alethia Arguilez, and Megan Thomas (SDG&E).

That evening was the San Diego Impact Investors Network Steering Committee meeting. Chaired by Nelli Garton and led by Director Robert Foster, the group explores ways to connect investors throughout the County as well as provide meaningful educational sessions for all. The network is excited to launch the Women’s Empowerment Fund soon to support low-income women as they start and sustain their own small businesses.

Feb 22

Jim Woods, VP of Resource Development, and I met with Jennifer Habig, CEO at Center for Creative Learning. We explored ways we could strengthen the longtime workplace campaign to better meet the needs of their employees. Their focus on health and biotech may provide a clear opportunity to provide both employee engagement and giving.

Feb 23

I’m always interested in conversations around the County that provide different perspectives into our diverse communities. This afternoon I attended the “Black Excellence in Public Service” seminar hosted by Jack & Jill, Inc. Dr. Shirley Weber kicked off the event. What an impressive panel of speakers: Genevieve Jones-Wright, Deputy Public Defender; Monica Montgomery, Councilmember City of San Diego; Omar Passons, Director of Integrative Services, County of San Diego; and Dr. Akilah Weber, Councilmember, City of La Mesa. They spoke primarily as role models to the young people in the audience, encouraging them to persevere even when others tell them they can’t achieve their goals.

Feb 26

Lane Kiefaber, Red to Black, reached out after hearing my presentation at the North County Philanthropy Council earlier in February. As a consultant, she is interested in nonprofit solutions and partnered with the United Way in Orange County to create the OC Reads program. To launch this program, she needed to bring together various community leaders and set the goals that have continued today.

Feb 27

Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I met with Dr. Constance Carroll, Chancellor, San Diego Community College District, to talk about how we can partner together. We have been working with her and her team to build a pathway for community college students into careers. These discussions include paid internships and partnerships with San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp (EDC) and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. It was a great opportunity for us to explore ways to build youth success towards college and career pathways.

I also joined the steering committee of our Women United group to talk about our recent community listening work and the subsequent messaging. Chaired by Christina Hastings, Director, Corporate Communications, Bridgepoint Education, this group mobilizes the power of women to improve lives in our community.

Feb 28

Community Health Consultant Dr. Bud Beck is a pillar in our community and has been active in all things health related for many years! It was a privilege to have him join us at a community listening salon recently and to continue that conversation this morning. It was a great conversation and Bud had great advice about reducing redundancies in our community.

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Nancy’s Blog: January 2019

By |2021-05-28T16:09:05-07:00February 14th, 2019|Categories: Nancy's Blogs|

Nancy’s Blog: January 2019

four people standing in front of a United Way sign



Fresh Starts and New Beginnings

January 1

Sports fan? I’m a huge Texas Longhorn fan – Hook ’em! Texas played Georgia in the Sugar Bowl – aw honey, honey – and won! They came out strong and stayed strong throughout the game. What a great way to start the new year!

January 3

It’s a quiet week but what a great lunch meeting today with Jodi Jacobson, CEO of Rewire.News. My former colleague and friend, Bryan Howard, email introduced us and suggested we meet while she was in town. Jodi was visiting so she could volunteer with organizations working along the border. She loves to get outdoors as well, so there could be a hike in my future!

Week of January 7-11

This week I’m in Alexandria, VA, for the United Way Worldwide’s (UWW) New President’s Forum. It’s my opportunity to hear from the leaders at UWW about Worldwide’s direction, goals, and future. I also got to meet many of my new colleagues. We have over 1100 United Ways in this country—from 2 to 240—and over 1400 worldwide! Of course, the work and challenge can be similar but the resources available determine each local United Way’s ability to address them. We heard from Brian Gallagher, CEO, UWW, and Mary Sellers, U.S. President, UWW. A lot of discussion focused on digital strategies and brand requirements. We also spent a morning on “The Hill” talking with Congress members and their staff. We are so fortunate in CA to have support from our elected officials around education, health, and economic mobility. The common challenge we heard was making our issues relevant to the opposition, especially on the financial impact.

January 11

Have you heard about San Diego Fleet? A charter member of the Alliance of American Football, San Diego Fleet will be playing in the SDCCU stadium beginning with their first home game on Sunday, February 17. Today, Ryan Morris, Interim VP of Marketing; Alli Temnick, Senior Development Executive; and I met with representatives from the team – Justin Kirk & Carly Mitchell. We looking forward to partnering with them for team member engagement and fan participation. We also talked about hosting an event with our Emerging Leaders at the stadium. It would be a great opportunity to discuss the challenges and successes for introducing a new business to a new community, which can be an essential part of leadership!

January 14

The California Endowment hosted a meeting today in Los Angeles to discuss “Mobilizing Philanthropy for Census 2020.” Governor Newson has put additional funding into the budget to conduct the Census, but more money is needed to tally the hard-to-count populations. The Census is important to all of us because it can impact our representation in the House of Representatives. It also is used to determine funding for programs such as SNAP, Section 8 Housing, Medicare/MediCal, and Transportation. Many foundations have committed funding to support a more in-depth census count for 2020. The work needs to start now!

January 15

This afternoon, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I met with James Wright, CEO, Classroom of the Future Foundation, to talk about a potential partnership with United Way. CFF has piloted a project at Clairemont High School—along with the Moxie Foundation and San Diego Unified School District—to not only transform the school facility but to also change the curricula strategies. Students now select between 4 academies (Business, Engineering Design, Health & Medical Sciences, and Information Technology) where they engage in more experiential learning. Ensuring students are on a pathway for educational success is just one of the ways United Way is working in San Diego County.

That evening, a series of meetings and events took place, starting with a conversation about a possible role for United Way to play coordinating the Census efforts for San Diego County. Senator Toni Atkins staff, Pamela Ison & Chevelle Tate, spent some time with me talking about the role of the Administrative Community Based Organization (ACBO). It sounds intriguing and is a role UWSD has played in our community – convening and coordinating the efforts of a collaborative network to accomplish a common goal. More to come on this progress.

I followed that meeting with the San Diego Central Library Foundation’s reception, hosted by CEO, Jay Hill. Of course, access to books is an essential part of learning success for children. If students are not at 3rd-grade reading level by the end of the 3rd grade, they are 4 times less likely to finish high school on time!

That was immediately followed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s State of the City Address. His main points focused on housing, lifting up communities, and the environment. These points also addressed the family stability work we are doing through our Unions United program. This program provides support for food, rent, and mortgage payments as well as utility bills. We also fund our partners working throughout the County to help families access much-needed benefits, including the Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). Through this work, our partners have helped bring over $40M to San Diego County families.

January 16

I caught up with Larry Kesslin, CEO, Corporate Alliance, to learn more about his idea for legacy mentoring. Connecting young adults to more seasoned professionals to mentor and learn together also supports young adults moving into college or career pathways.

January 17

Today I was meeting with Christy Rosenberg and Cheryl Moder to learn more about how they are creating a partner network for their efforts with the Accountable Communities of Health (ACH). Since our role is to bring networks together to transform shared systems, we are exploring the role United Way might have in their work.

This evening, I took our Board of Directors to dinner at Eclipse Chocolates! It was a great time for us to learn more about each other in an informal setting. I learned the following about members: one competed in rollerblading competitions (skating on railings etc.), one had a great-great-grandfather on The Titanic, one was in school in Iran the day the Iran revolution happened, one has read all the Jack Reacher series of books, and so much more.

January 18

Many thanks to my friend, Peter Callstrom, CEO, Workforce Partnership, for inviting me to participate with other CEOs to talk about issues impacting downtown. Hosted by Betsy Brennan, CEO, Downtown San Diego Partnership, and Rip Rippetoe, CEO, San Diego Convention Center, we shared ideas and concerns and heard from the Mayor’s office about his State of the City address.

Jim Woods, VP Resource Development, and I met with Dr. Bob Brower, President, Point Loma Nazarene University, to hear his perspectives on young adults, changing ideas, and the impact on the education pathway in the future. We share a common interest in ensuring our recent high school graduates are well prepared for the future they will face when they choose either college or career.

For lunch, I headed to the Educational Cultural Complex to learn about issues around homelessness and education, presented by the San Diego Community College District. We were welcomed by San Diego Community College District Chancellor, Constance M. Carroll, Ph.D., and San Diego Continuing Education (SDCE) President, Carlos O. Turner Cortez, Ph.D. In 2018, 12 men were selected from the San Diego Rescue Mission to attend the SDCE campus and pursue free training programs in plumbing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); welding; and office assistance.

January 22

Ian Gordon & I met with Omar Passons, Director of Integrative Services, HHSA, to hear how he is shaping this new role and effort. We have a mutual interest in the success of children and young adults throughout the educational pathway so they can thrive in our community. We will continue to talk about how we can integrate and align our work with theirs in the coming months.

Which, of course, means we should meet with Alethea Arguilez, Director of First 5! Alethea has an impressive background with Head Start and First 5, which gives her an excellent understanding of the needs of children as well as the non-profit service providers. As we all face funding decisions, we hope to find ways to work together to reduce duplication and to support each other’s direction.

Have you heard of Journey’s Map? It’s a technology tool that can help people figure out the pathway that will get them to their employment goals. I met with Scott Sibley and Drew Schlosberg for a demo of the tool. Information provided helps a person learn which school topics will best position them for their dream job while also giving them an idea of similar jobs. In our college-to-career readiness program, this could be a great tool for our partners to use.

January 23

A big day for me and United Way! We held our board retreat at Ashford University to talk about my vision for United Way. We talked systems, our role, and our messaging draft. You’ll hear more about our work in the days to come, but I was excited about the board engagement and participation in the discussion. This was a big step in our work to align the message, the board, the staff, and the community!

This afternoon I met with Connie Matsui, Interim CEO, San Diego Foundation, to tell her about our alignment work and get her feedback. She has some great perspectives on where we can play a role, especially as it relates to families and children and how they can thrive in our community!

January 24

As I continue to listen to people in our community talk about United Way’s role, I enjoyed meeting up with Jim Floros, CEO, Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. Jim has a long history with United Way, and it was great to get both the history and his perspective. He always sparks my innovative thoughts about how to partner with education success and food insecurities…

This evening I attended the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Business Mixer hosted by our new football team – San Diego Fleet! We got down on the field and enjoyed great company and good food. Alicia Quinn, VP of New Business Strategies, attended with me as we continue to explore ways to partner with San Diego Fleet, much like United Ways partner with the NFL in other cities. My goal: meet Hines Ward! I have always loved his smile…

January 28

I spent the day in Riverside at the gorgeous Mission Inn for the United Ways of California statewide meeting. Hosted by Pete Manzo, Director of United Way of California, we heard about the national and state strategies, learned from each other how to respond to disasters when you and your staff are also experiencing that disaster, and how to diversify the ways we conduct our fundraising efforts. It was great to meet my colleagues in the State. 

January 29

Torrey Albertazzi, Senior Impact Manager, Ian Gordon, Chief Impact Officer, and I met with Rob Podlogar, CEO, Siemer Institute, to find out about their current funding strategies. United Way had a partnership with Siemer a few years ago, and we are exploring ways to partner again! Siemer is strategic about multi-generational strategies to address student mobility—hopefully, reducing the need to change schools—and educational success.

That evening I caught up with Nelli Garton, Founder of Tablecloth, a company that uses real-time software for impact, measurement, and evaluation. Given the role that the collection and analysis of data will play in United Way’s future efforts, it is important that we also know what is already taking place in our community that will inform future partnerships.

January 30

Many thanks to United Way board member Dr. Wendy Hunter and her husband, Greg Hunter, CEO, Hunter Industries (a long time United Way workplace campaign partner) for opening their home for our first community salon. In my effort to align our work at United Way, I believe it is also important to listen to the community and get feedback along the way. We rolled out our vision, mission, role, and work along with draft messaging to this small but very engaged group. I look forward to hearing from more community members throughout the month of February.

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