We are glad to announce the following learning sessions for the 2024 United Way Western Regional Conference. A learning session is a breakout centered around our common United Way work on community impact, resource development, equity, disaster response, branding, 211, and more. Each session will last one hour and a half (75 minutes) in one of six spaces we have reserved for the conference. Click on the blue accordion below for detailed information about each session.
Pre-Conference Sessions: Tuesday, August 6, 2024
1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onboard United Way! An Overview of All Things United Way for New(ish) Staff & Those Interested in What is New in the Network | Start your Western Regional Conference experience with the foundational knowledge necessary to be an informed member of our network. This session will cover the basics of United Way, informed by the most recent data, the Thriving United Way framework and the Brand Refresh. From our vision and mission to our (new) fourth impact pillar and from United Way’s history to the latest info and resources available to your United Way. Please consider this session to strengthen your United Way foundation and dip your toes into the breadth of topics that will be covered in more detail throughout the Western Regional. | Annie Davies, United Way Worldwide | Marche 1 |
2:30 PM – 3:45 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundraising & Revenue Diversification 101 | This session will provide an overview of United Way fundraising principles and resources to set new resource development/fundraising professionals up for success. Content will cover United Way’s historic fundraising model and how that impacts our fundraising approach today as well as how to approach fundraising today through a diversified fundraising strategy. We’ll touch on campaign resources, third-party/processing resources, planned/asset-based giving, opportunities in corporate giving and grant writing resources while also leaving plenty of time for questions and participant ideas and success stories. The goal? You leave with ideas and information that will help you develop and expand fundraising at your local United Way.” | Annie Davies, Chad Royal-Pascoe, and Alexia Savage, United Way Worldwide | Marche 1 |
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Missing Middle: How mid-level giving can serve as a key link. | A healthy, thriving major gifts pipeline is core to your United Way’s ability to nurture donors at every level to be a part of the collective progress of our mission. Yet, most organizations struggle to effectively move donors through the donor pipeline and into major gifts. Mid-level donors are a vital part of this strategy and are often overlooked because of their vast numbers and unique differences. This session will explore the importance of the major gifts pipeline and teach you ways to utilize your team to activate leadership and your Tocqueville Society to enhance your fundraising efforts and increase community impact. | Evelyn Morgner, United Way Worldwide, Jeff Schreifels and Karen Kendrick, Veritus Group | Marche 1 |
| Reintroduce Yourself: United Way Brand | Discover how the revitalized United Way brand can amplify engagement, relevance, and revenue in your community. This session unveils the tools and resources to seamlessly introduce the refreshed brand to your local audience, fostering greater connection and impact. This is an opportunity to retool your “Thriving United Way” in the eyes of established partners and create relationships with new stakeholders. | Omoiye Kinney, United Way Worldwide | Marche 2 |
| AI is for Everyone: Big and Small Local United Ways | Join us to discover how AI Copilot can help with skill development, program implementation, marketing, operations, and fundraising. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how AI can help your organization achieve its goals. | Don Hinton, Microsoft | Marche 3 |
| Leveraging 211 as a Business Strategy | Discover how to harness 211 to support the business strategy of your United Way. In this session, we will discuss the many ways 211 can be leveraged as a critical asset to your United Way business strategy to increase revenue, inform your impact strategy, guide advocacy efforts, build relationships, and increase brand recognition. Gain practical insights and establish your United Way as a valuable community partner by tuning into the true needs of your community through a better understanding of the impact of 211 and the powerful data available through 211. | Heather Black, United Way Worldwide and Pete Manzo, United Ways of California | Modena 1 |
| Discovering Local United Way Resources through United Way NEXT | Join this insightful session where participants will delve into the power of United Way NEXT to bridge connecting current staff at all levels to invaluable resources. UW NEXT is committed to enhancing your impact within the UW network by connecting you to valuable tools, offering professional and personal development sessions and more! This session will share more about the CEO/Staff Mentorship program that connects participants with seasoned leaders who have navigated the challenges you face. This session will help you discover and learn how planned giving tools and dedicated volunteers can help transform your organization’s future. This session will explore the benefits of interim leadership during c-suite transitions gaining insights into continuity solutions. Participating in this session isn’t just about knowledge, it’s about taking action. By tapping into these resources, you’ll elevate your work and connect to the benefits of UW NEXT. | Carole Peters, United Way NEXT and Kyle Rahn, United Way Fresno and Madera Counties | Modena 2 |
| AmeriCorps Unites: Exploring National Service Contracts as a Bridge Builder for Your Community | Every United Way feels the effect of increased polarization in our country. Fear of each other is driving down volunteerism and community engagement. Address this growing fear and gaps in program funding simultaneously with national service contracts! Learn how your United Way can leverage AmeriCorps revenue streams to drive impact programs, bridge difference, and expand economic opportunity in your local community. | Lyiam Galo, Northern Santa Barbara County United Way | Modena 3 |
2:30 PM – 3:45 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed Income is Guaranteed Success! | Learn about how different approaches to guaranteed basic income and cash assistance programs are being integrated into local United Way’s economic mobility efforts. Join us in this panel discussion to hear how the United Ways in Sacramento CA, Inland Empire, CA and Tacoma, WA have designed and implemented guaranteed basic income programs in their communities. | Dona Ponepinto, United Way of Pierce County, Kimberly Starrs, Inland Southern California United Way and Dr. Dawnté Early, United Way California Capital Region | Marche 1 |
| United Way Equitable Community Impact 101 | This session is to support new United Way Impact staff in understanding what an equitable impact agenda is and how to develop it by engaging community members, donors, partners, and other stakeholders. Participants will be introduced to ways that United Way can intentionally integrate equity into a new or existing impact agenda and engage in community change efforts to close gaps and address disparities in community problems. You’ll leave with a better understanding of how to leverage the new Developing Equitable Impact Agendas Playbook to strengthen equity as a component of your United Way’s community impact goals, strategies, and success measures. | Laura Scherler, United Way Worldwide and Keisha Browder, United Way of Santa Cruz County | Marche 2 |
| Women United: From Start-Up to Standout – Enhancing Your Affinity Group | Join us for an engaging workshop designed to help United Way chapters establish and grow their Women United Affinity groups. We’ll cover everything from foundational principles and structuring to securing CEO and board support, driving membership, and creating impactful initiatives and events. Learn best practices, explore funding strategies, and leave with actionable steps to elevate your Women United chapter. | Robin Baglietto and Kristen Birtwhistle, United Way of San Joaquin County | Marche 3 |
| But Isn’t That Cheating? How to use ChatGPT in the Grant Lifecycle | “But Isn’t That Cheating? How to use ChatGPT in the Grant Lifecycle” is an interactive learning session that highlights how technology continues to present new challenges and opportunities for the work of United Ways, particularly in the area of grant revenue development. This session begins with a brief history of grant writing and an overview of the grant revenue development lifecycle. At each stage, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT can be used to improve the reach of your research efforts, increase the number of applications your team can submit, maintain a repository of program-based and organization-wide knowledge, and adapting high-quality written proposals for multiple audiences. | Aaron Krolikowski, United Way of Southern Nevada | Modena 1 |
| Implementing and Evaluating DEI Strategies | This learning session will focus on providing an understanding of how to take the concepts of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) from words in practical application. Utilizing tangible principles, this session will provide guidance on understanding the definitions of these terms, how to use these definitions to create baseline metrics for equity improvements in programs and services, and how to measure the impact and effectiveness of these interventions. Using both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, participants will have an understanding of IDEA as a core mathematical and sociological principle of community empowerment, upliftment and mobilization. From this session, participants will have a playbook to use in evaluating IDEA in their own programs, developing intervention strategies, and creating sustainable change for their organizations and communities they serve. | Kevin Williams, United Way Fresno and Madera Counties | Modena 2 |
| Financial Resilience in the Face of Disaster: Insights and Strategies from the United Way Network | Unfortunately, disasters are increasing in both intensity and frequency; approximately 90% of U.S. counties have experienced a federal climate disaster between 2011-2021 (Atlas of Disaster). United Way is in communities before, during and after disasters which makes us uniquely positioned to anticipate how existing financial vulnerabilities may be magnified by a disaster. This session will elevate the lived experiences of local United Way leaders navigating the financial impact and recovery of disasters in their communities. Participants will leave with a better understanding of: (1) how disasters impact the financial well-being of communities, (2) best practices for launching emergency financial assistance and long-term financial recovery programs, including how to leverage data insights (e.g., Real Cost Measure, ALICE,) and (3) where to access tools that can be leveraged in your community’s financial recovery (e.g., MyFreeTaxes Disaster Tax Guide, MySmartMoney). | Annie Davies, United Way Worldwide, Jim Cooper, United Ways of the Pacific Northwest, and Larry Olmstead, United Way of Northern California | Modena 3 |
Thursday, August 8, 2024
11:30 AM – 12:45 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Uncharitable Conversation – A Movement Begins | The panel and session attendees will discuss the message of the movie Uncharitable and how that message can be turned into a movement leading to real and meaningful change in the nonprofit sector. The session is designed for attendees who viewed Uncharitable at the Western Regional Conference or elsewhere, who have seen Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk, or are motivated to support transformational change in the nonprofit sector. The discussion will explore how to elevate the importance of transforming the nonprofit sector, where a movement could come from, and where it could go to fully solve the problems United Way organizations are working to address in their communities. The session will help equip you to share the message of film and be an advocate for change at your organization and in your community. | Jody Levison-Johnson, Social Current, Mark Pollack, United Way Of Metropolitan Dallas, Eddie Taylor, Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and Kristen Birtwhistle, United Way of Joaquin County | Marche 1 |
| Making the Most of Donor Data: Leveraging What You Know About Donors to Grow Support for Your United Way | How do you utilize what you know about your donors to maximize your fundraising? Learn how to use information you already have access to and effectively leverage insights to expand support for your United Way. This session delves into strategies for harnessing donor information to personalize outreach, deepen engagement, and cultivate lasting relationships. Join us for practical tips on analyzing donor data to drive fundraising success and propel your mission forward. | Evelyn Morgner, United Way Worldwide and Dona Ponepinto, United Way of Pierce County | Marche 2 |
| How Did We Get Here? Addressing Backlash and Equity Fatigue in DEI Work | In an interactive presentation, we will explore a DEI timeline – highlighting how the work has changed over the past several years, particularly examining the trends that have developed in the field since 2020. This section will also include scenarios and stories with best practices our organizations have employed to develop our work during this time. Valuable takeaways and resources will be shared in this section, for new and emerging DEI work at local United Ways. In Part 2, we will look more closely at the current DEI trends and narrative shifts including legal challenges, “whitelash”, other forms of backlash and narrative shifts that currently occupy the space. In interactive small group discussions and utilizing articles and media content, participants will explore themes, share insights, and brainstorm strategies to be resilient and thrive within the current environment. | Sara Brissenden-Smith, United Way Bay Area and Mikela Thomas, United Ways of California | Marche 3 |
| Worth a Thousand Words: Strategies and Tools for Visualizing Community Impact Data | “Worth a Thousand Words: Strategies and Tools for Visualizing Community Impact Data”” is an interactive learning session on best practices, best examples, and best ideas for visualizing Community Impact data. The session includes a brief history of visual communication for social change, types of community impact data that can be visualized, different tools that even beginners can start to use, and examples of how United Way of Southern Nevada and other Local United Ways are effectively using dataviz in their Community Impact work. Come prepared with your favorite examples of Community Impact data visualization; the second half of the session is a facilitated show-and-tell-style mini-presentation highlighting best-in-class examples of community impact dataviz from United Way and beyond. | Aaron Krolikowski, United Way of Southern Nevada | Modena 1 |
| Revenue Diversification & Growth…A Case Study Continues | This session is a continuation of a story of success and growth in two very different marketsÖ. Santa Barbara, California and West Tennessee. While the geography, demographics and corporate landscape are quite different, the principles, mindset and strategies for success are surprisingly aligned. In early 2023, we shared the process of transformation in these two markets at United in Purpose. This August, we hope to continue the story, answering the question: Are the strategies still working? Spoiler alertÖ. yes! UWSB CEO, Steve Ortiz and UWWT CEO, Matt Marshall will reflect on the trends & learnings that continue to shape their organizations and provide valuable lessons for LUWs looking to grow and diversify their revenue & create meaningful impact in their communities. | Annie Davies and Chad Royal-Pascoe, United Way Worldwide, Steve Ortiz, United Way of Santa Barbara County and Matthew Marshall, United Way of West Tennessee | Modena 2 |
| Developing Partnerships and Aligning with Business Models to Home Grow a Community Referral Network | This session will discuss the United Way Monterey County Smart Referral Network (SRN), a local CIE representing 90 CBOs that interfaces with our 211 health and human service database to customize search results and access residents to hundreds of programs. Generating stakeholder buy in and investment has been key to our success and will be presented. Our approach to TA, workflow development, and how we measure success will also be discussed. We will highlight how the SRN is used to support affinity and cohort cases and align with local priorities: the CalAim “Whole Person Care” initiative; the Emergency Rent Assistance,Housing Stability Programs, EITC outreach, and access to mental health services. In addition, we will showcase our partnership with a local grassroots organization, “Mujeres en Accion” that has leveraged its promotores’ relationships in the community to access vulnerable groups to needed services. To ensure, a human centered design approach, the promotores have served as key informants to guide the development of a chatbot self-referral tool. The SRN has built the capacity of promotores to gain marketable skills and develop our local workforce. | Josh Madfis and Kalyssa King, United Way Monterey County | Modena 3 |
3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEO Roundtable | Join fellow CEOs throughout the United Way Network for a private gathering with Angela Williams. | Angela Williams, United Way Worldwide | Marche 1 |
| Driving Equity Results in Rural Communities | United Way’s commitment to racial and social justice and equity finds a challenge in rural, deeply conservative areas. Equity issues often are crucial in these communities; yet, people of color may lack numbers, visibility, and political clout, and many residents overall feel disrespected and forgotten by government and other institutions. In this session, two United Ways describe how they have navigated these issues in deeply red communities to achieve positive results. You will learn how United Way of Northern California’s Equity Fund has emerged as the hub of a comprehensive initiative that has driven resources into its communities; and how United Way of Central Eastern California has driven change by selecting specific projects that have allowed it to leverage and build on positive, trusting relationships. This session will inspire participants to focus on the opportunity, rather than the challenge, and identify the assets within their control to achieve credibility and results. | Larry Olmstead, United Way of Northern California and Mari Pérez-Dowling, United Way of Central Eastern California | Marche 2 |
| United for Books: High Impact Literacy Programming | This high-energy session takes early literacy to the stratosphere of positivity, and fun, illuminating the impacts and benefits of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and how it has become a popular showcase program for United Ways in the Pacific Northwest. Hear from Imagination Library of Washington’s Executive Director on the thrilling journey to uplift a statewide program, and get the inside scoop from United Way leaders in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho on how they’ve harnessed the enchanting power of Imagination Library to embrace their youth, advance equity in early literacy, and spark community engagement. | Brooke Fisher-Clark, United Ways of the Pacific Northwest, Denise Kilcline, United Way of Whatcom County, Bill Maikranz, United Way of South Central Idaho and Kevin Manske, United Way of Linn, Benton & Lincoln Counties | Marche 3 |
| Micro Campaigns: Building Lifelong Connections Beyond the Workplace | As United Ways experience donor loss and often struggle to connect directly with workplace donors, United Ways are looking outside the workplace to build sustainable, lifelong connections with new donors. United Ways are seeing success using brief, issue-focused “micro-campaigns” to attract community volunteers and donors. This session will provide examples of micro-campaigns that have been effective at acquiring, retaining, and growing donors, offer techniques for leveraging micro-campaigns to collect information to maintain contact with constituents, and discuss opportunities to blend digital and in-person experiences to optimize data gathering and real-life connection with donors. | Evelyn Morgner, United Way Worldwide and Emmaly Calibraro, Aloha United Way | Modena 1 |
| United in Success: The Powerful Partnership Between Sage Intacct and United Way | A session designed to display how Sage Intacct’s advanced financial management tools can revolutionize the operations of United Way organizations. This presentation will focus on the transformative impact of Sage Intacct’s capabilities in dimensionality and reporting, grants tracking and billing, and allocations. Each of these areas is tailored to meet the complex needs of nonprofits, enhancing visibility, compliance, and decision-making efficiency. We will explore how your financial processes can streamline operations and provide strategic insights that drive organizational success. By leveraging real-time data and comprehensive financial management tools, United Way CFOs can better understand their financial landscape, ensuring that resources are optimized and mission objectives are met more effectively. Join us to learn how this partnership can empower your organization, helping you to manage funds with greater accuracy and impact. Join us as we unveil a groundbreaking platform, meticulously crafted to empower each United Way in reclaiming control over their donor relationships and digital interactions. This innovative solution draws inspiration from the digital prowess of the world’s most customer-centric institutions. It offers a comprehensive suite of features, including universal registration, personalized portal experiences, individual profiles, seamless integration with multiple vendor platforms via single-sign-on, and a mechanism for scaling and operationalizing innovative programs across the network. In essence, we have developed a transformative solution that fosters lifelong connections with United Way, transcending circumstances and geographical boundaries. | Adam Kronemeyer, Bou-Linh Tran and James Bradley, Sage Intacct. | Modena 2 |
| Using a Shared United Way Platform to Recruit and Engage Volunteers and Assist Clients | In an effort to increase access and capacity for tools and resources, California’s United Way network developed a partner portal to better enable 19 United Ways engaged in VITA, and their local CBO partners, to recruit and manage VITA volunteers and schedule appointments for VITA clients, to help households enroll in affordable broadband, and more. Built on Stacker, the portal helps partners access systems, information, materials and reports in an integrated and accessible manner. The partner portal elevates the work of more than 30 local United Ways and partners throughout the state, creating a one stop access point for all their information and system needs. | Jafet Diego and Riley Smith, United Ways of California | Modena 3 |
Friday, August 9, 2024
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM
| Title | Description | Speaker(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobilize community partners to drive economic mobility for working families | Whether your United Way uses ALICE or Real Cost Measure or Self-Sufficiency Standard data to illustrate how many families, of which configurations struggle, these data provide a good hook, but telling a broader story about the caring community’s role in meeting the needs of struggling families is essential to attracting support.United Ways know well the financial challenges working families contend with in making ends meet. Across the country, United Ways work to empower families in a number of ways, from connecting households to cash through earned income and tax credits via free tax prep services, or improving credit and building assets through programs like SparkPoint or (Knoxville) and prosperity coaching, and also work for policy changes to improve the odds for working families. Engaging community residents, business leaders, public officials and others as partners in this work is essential to success. | Pete Manzo, United Ways of California, Jim Cooper, United Ways of the Pacific Northwest, Dona Ponepinto, United Way of Pierce County and Kiran Gaudioso, United Way of Northern New Jersey | Marche 1 |
| Decolonizing our Minds and Embodying Belonging: DEI at the center of all that we do | DEI may seem novel as it’s having its moment in the cultural spotlight. At UWBA, DEI is more than a verbal agreement, but rather is interwoven directly into the organization’s mission and individual goals for employees for the long haul. The session will begin with an exploration of our journey to embody DEI values in ALL aspects of our work. We will cover how we have evolved and sustained an effective DEI Council, our setbacks and challenges as well as our biggest transformations as an organization. The presentation is led by staff who have been given power, autonomy, and compensation for DEI work as part of the DEI Council. After the presentation, participants will be given prompts to choose their own adventure from activities such as small group discussions, journaling, shared drawing, and more. Our goal is to deepen understanding, share best practices and new ideas, and connect with fellow UW employees and the amazing DEI work that is happening throughout the network. | Tom Carradero, Clare Margason, Cristian Avila, and Sara Brissenden-Smith, United Way Bay Area | Marche 2 |
| Public Policy: A Tool for Revenue Development and Diversification | Come explore the many ways public policy can be used as a tool for resource development and revenue diversification. This session will take you through building foundations for expansion of partnership and revenue while you learn from the experience of local United Ways on how they were able to leverage policy to tap into state resources for key community impact issues in their community and state. Join Blake Pang, CEO of United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierras and Naomi Lett, Senior Director of State Policy and Advocacy for this interactive learning session where you will walk away with a 12-month (manageable) to-do list that is helpful to get you on the path to revenue diversification through policy. | Naomi Lett, United Way Worldwide, and Blake Pang, United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra | Marche 3 |
| Uniting Historically Disinvested Students on the Way Toward Thriving Careers: Community, Corporate, and School Collaboration to Uplift Career Pathways | This session will focus on the STEAM-to-Careers program that was piloted at two high schools during the 2022-23 school year. We will describe how UWSD partnered with over 20 organizations and businesses to create an afterschool program and a summer paid career exploration cohort where students learned how to get on a pathway to high-paying jobs here in San Diego. The session will highlight the importance of collaboration to help create pathways for students who have historically been held out of these jobs that pay a living way and help students become thriving San Diegans. You will leave this session understanding how you can partner with local organizations to create in-school experiences that mirror the diverse and engaging activities that are available out of school time by creating a comprehensive collaborative approach that includes school, community, and corporate partners. | James McConchie and Johnny Garcia, United Way of San Diego County | Modena 1 |
| Equity-Driven Impact Agendas: Engaging Communities for Positive Change | An impact agenda outlines a United Way’s community goals, strategies, approaches and success measures. Developing an impact agenda is a critical way to engage community members, donors, partners, and other stakeholders and to create shared buy-in for the work necessary to create positive community change. Integrating equity into impact for small and large UWs requires being intentional at every step in the process to ensure that community change efforts also close gaps and address disparities in community problems. Join us to learn how your United Way can intentionally integrate equity into a new or existing impact agenda. You’ll leave with a better understanding of how to leverage the new Developing Equitable Impact Agendas Playbook to strengthen equity as a component of your United Way’s community impact goals, strategies, and success measures. | Laura Scherler, United Way Worldwide and Keisha Browder, United Way of Santa Cruz County | Modena 2 |
| Embracing Data & Technology – Maximize Financial Health & Productivity | See what is possible by embracing data and technology to maximize your organization’s health and productivity. Discover the power of data collection and delivery and how technology is providing nonprofit organizations with better, quicker, and more easily accessible information. Explore how to think critically about dashboards, KPIs, and RPAs and how to utilize data and technology as a resource. | Ben Hays, Your Part-Time Controller | Modena 3 |
