As we navigate through increasingly challenging times for both our state and our country, it has become more evident than ever that the power of coming together in community—sharing insights, supporting one another, and fostering resilience—has never been more important.
In this pivotal moment to focus on our collective unity and strength, we are eager to be in community together with our California United Way staff and board members at our biennial state conference.
This gathering, taking place in Pasadena from May 5-7, will not only celebrate the resilience of our Southern California communities ravaged by fires, but it will also provide a vital opportunity to explore new ways to strengthen our collective efforts and better serve communities across our great state.
The United We Thrive: 2025 California United Ways Conference aims to deepen the connection between staff and board members of the local California United Ways, share learnings, discuss common priorities, explore the Thriving United Way Framework, and identify opportunities for collaboration, in service of ensuring our collective resilience and capacity to serve our communities effectively.
Who should attend?
This conference is open to staff at all levels of United Ways, primarily from California. We welcome:
- CEOs and Executive Directors
- Board Members
- Communications & Marketing Staff
- Community Impact Staff
- Resource Development Staff
- Operations, HR, and Internal Culture Staff
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Leads
- Policy and Advocacy Staff
Potential Outcomes:
Attendees leave with:
- A stronger sense of community and with deeper relationships for future collaboration and support;
- A deeper understanding of how other local United Ways are thinking about revenue growth and diversification, approaching organizational development and capacity building, working in service with their communities, and engaging their teams and boards to be more supportive of centering equity in the work;
- A shared understanding of the way California’s United Ways will roll out the new global brand refresh, as well as ideas on how to engage in brand awareness and relevance campaigns to strengthen our brand standing with donors, partners, and policymakers;
- Insight about how other local United Ways have engaged with the Thriving United Way Self-Assessment to identify improvement priorities and strategies to achieve improvement goals.
Registration
United Way Worldwide has provided United Ways of California with a conference sponsorship that has allowed us to significantly reduce the registration price (originally $500) and hotel sleeping room rate to $199 for attendees. The listed registration prices and hotel room rates reflect those discounts.
All registrations for the 2025 California Statewide Conference are non-refundable after April 4. If your plans change and you are unable to attend the conference, you may transfer your registration to another local United Way representative. In that case, please let us know who your registration will be transferred to by Wednesday, April 30. For further questions regarding registration or cancellation requests, please contact events@unitedwaysca.org or call 877.355.8922 x2.
Given the importance of having as many local United Ways in California participate, please reach out to Dave Sheldon if you need additional assistance in order to attend the conference.
Separate pricing applies for California and non-California United Ways. See details below.
| CA United Ways Pricing | First Registrant Per UW | Additional Registrants Per UW |
|---|---|---|
| Subsidized, Early Bird (by 4/4) | $350 | $200 |
| Subsidized, Regular (after 4/4) | $400 | $250 |
| Non California United Ways Pricing | |
|---|---|
| Subsidized, Early Bird (by 4/4) | $350 |
| Subsidized, Regular (after 4/4) | $400 |
Hotel Booking
The Westin Pasadena
We have secured a block of rooms at our conference hotel, the Westin Pasadena, for the week of May 5th. Our negotiated rate is $199/night.
We encourage you to click here to book your hotel room(s) before the cut-off date of Monday, April 14th. Please note that hotel room availability is on a first come, first serve basis. If the block is full and you still need a room, please contact us to see if we can get the hotel to add you at the conference rate.
Venue Information
The Westin Pasadena
191 N Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101 (Google Map)
Phone (626) 792-2727 | View Venue Website
The closest airport is Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) located approximately 16 miles from the hotel.
Conference Schedule
The following is our current schedule for the 2025 California United Ways Conference and is subject to change.
| Agenda Item | Time |
|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Subgrantees Financial Stability Convening (2 hours) | 2:00 pm |
| Welcome Happy Hour (optional, self-hosted) | 5:00 pm |
| Networking Dinners (optional) | 7:00 pm |
| Agenda Item | Time |
|---|---|
| Breakfast available | 8:00 am |
| Welcome, Introduction Activities, Agenda Overview, Group Agreements | 9:00 am |
| Welcome & State of the Network: Pete Manzo, President & CEO, United Ways of California | 9:45 am |
| Break | 10:15 am |
| Thriving United Way Framework & Self Assessments–An Overview The Thriving United Way Framework, a blueprint for achieving high performance in our ever-changing environment, is designed to meet local United Ways of all sizes and locations where they are, while also providing aspirational direction to inspire growth and impact success. Every United Way must submit their self-assessment by December 31, 2025. In this interactive session, United Way Worldwide’s Annie Davies, Senior Director, Network Engagement & Performance, West & Central Regions, will ground us in the six pillars of the Framework and share how local United Ways are using the self-assessment process to identify improvement priorities and strategies to achieve improvement goals. | 10:30 am |
| Community Leadership & Network Citizenship Our Changing Reality: Adapting and Collaborating for Impact and Sustainability If the past few months have taught us anything, we’ve learned that no one can predict the future. But we can all think about our futures more creatively and systematically, turning uncertainty into inspiration for action. In this session, Karla Wesley, United Way Worldwide’s Vice President of Learning and Leadership Development, will share the Institute for the Future’s research, “Four Future Forces, Tomorrow’s Civil Society Will Demand Adaptable Leadership.” Together, we’ll consider how these forces are already impacting our communities and our work, and we’ll begin to identify ways we might need to adapt and collaborate as both individual United Ways and as a network. | 11:15 am |
| Lunch | 12:15 pm |
| Equitable Community Impact & Strong Organizational Foundation Keeping Equity at the Center Our work revolves around ensuring that every individual in every community gets an equal opportunity to prosper. This requires us to prioritize racial and social justice and equity, remove systemic barriers, and foster inclusivity. Through diversity, equity, and inclusion, we can promote belonging and overall well-being in our communities and within our organizations. And with reduced federal support on the horizon for many of the safety-net programs, public education systems, and financial stability programs that underpin the well-being of the communities we serve, inequity will grow and our organizations will be called upon to do more to protect those most likely to be negatively impacted. Further, new federal policies are already taking aim at undocumented individuals, immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ folks, and the policies that aim to promote opportunity for women and people of color. In this session, we’ll explore how local United Ways are engaging their staff, boards, and communities to support using an equity lens in their internal and community work as well as how we can ensure that DEI remains central to our strategies, even in the face of federal opposition. | 1:00 pm |
| Break | 2:30 pm |
| Diversified Revenue Streams Breakout session: Revenue Innovations and Low-Hanging Fruit United Way Worldwide’s Annie Davies and Addie Ostrander will share details about new corporate partnerships and cause marketing plans, as well as about ways to tap into planned and asset-based individual giving. We’ll also brainstorm ways to engage with next-gen donors by facilitating giving circles, affinity groups, and community campaigns. [Target audiences: Resource Development staff, CEOs, Board, Finance staff] | 3:00 pm |
| Strong Organizational Foundation Breakout session: Investing in our People: Identifying the Skills and Leadership Characteristics to Thrive in a Changing Country and World Building on the Institute for the Future’s “Four Future Forces, Tomorrow’s Civil Society Will Demand Adaptable Leadership” research, and informed by the changes happening right now in our communities, this session will explore the kinds of leadership characteristics and traits we need to cultivate in our staff and seek in our board members to have the most impact in a changing world. We’ll consider how these changes impact how we think about leadership development, succession planning, and board recruitment, engagement, and effectiveness. [Target audiences: HR/Ops/Finance staff, CEOs, Board, DEI leads] | 3:00 pm |
| Equitable Community Impact Breakout session: Measuring Long-Term Impact: Using Data and Storytelling to Support Equitable Outcomes We all work with limited resources and want to use them to have the greatest impact. But how do we know what works and what to keep investing in? The answer might just be in how we collect and use data and community member stories to uplift our impact across the state, inform communication strategies, apply for funding, and even create workplace giving campaigns. In this session, we’ll explore how United Way partners are utilizing data in strategic ways that take capacity into account, support future growth, and demonstrate long-term impact. We’ll also brainstorm ways that we can collectively uplift data and storytelling to help strengthen our individual United Ways’ impacts and our network’s goals across California. [Target audiences: Community Impact staff, CEOs, Board, Advocacy staff, DEI leads, Communications & Marketing staff] | 3:00 pm |
| Happy Hour (optional, self-hosted) | 4:30 pm |
| Networking Dinners (optional) | 6:30 pm |
| Agenda Item | Time |
|---|---|
| Breakfast available | 8:00 am |
| Quick Agenda Overview, Reminder of Group Agreements, and Another Ice Breaker | 8:30 am |
| Community Leadership Fortifying Our Positions as Community Partners of Choice in a Time of Division and Anxiety It is often said that United Way’s superpower is being seen as a nonpartisan community organization that works with both the business community and nonprofit agencies, two groups sometimes seen on opposite sides of the political spectrum, to help those struggling to get by. Over the past 15+ years, our country seems seized by a toxic strain of discord that threatens our democracy, is furthering inequality, and complicates our work. Despite this ever-growing polarization, local United Ways continue to build deep relationships in their communities that strengthen their role as community leaders and solidify their positions as partners of choice. And the opportunity to use our trusted positions to help our communities engage across differences might be a key strategy for both our communities’ and our own sustainability. Together we’ll hear what organizations are doing to bridge the divide, support connection, and strengthen the engagement of nonprofit partners and business groups in our work. | 9:00 am |
| Break (possible hotel check-out opportunity) | 10:00 am |
| Strong Organizational Foundation Breakout session: Building an Equitable, Agile, and Forward-thinking Culture As our programs, priorities, and funding streams change, we experience increased demands on our staff and organizational systems. Staff turnover and technology changes add further pressure to capacity and stability. And as we grow or contract, our organizational structures and organizational cultures often need to adapt. In this session, we’ll explore ways organizational structures impact our capacity, ways to increase staff retention and satisfaction, and how to focus on building an organizational culture that can adapt through periods of change and uncertainty. [Target audiences: HR/Ops staff, CEOs, Board, DEI leads] | 10:15 am |
| Brand Strength, Awareness & Relevance Breakout session: Beyond Awareness: Building Network Understanding and Collective Campaigns for a Stronger United Way United Way has one of the most well-known names in the nonprofit world—but too often, people don’t actually understand what we do or why it matters. In this interactive session, we’ll explore how we can close that gap between recognition and relevance. We’ll discuss new tools and strategies coming up the pipeline, brainstorm ways to engage key audiences like next-generation donors and volunteers, and reflect on existing tools like California’s United for Good campaign. Most importantly, you’ll help shape what comes next by sharing insights from your community. Come ready to co-create the future of our network’s outreach, alignment, and collective impact. [Target audiences: Communications & Marketing staff, CEOs, Board, Resource Development staff] | 10:15 am |
| Equitable Community Impact Breakout session: Engaging in Public Policy Recent political and policy changes at the federal level have made engaging in policy and advocacy more important than ever, even for United Ways that have traditionally not spent a lot of time on advocacy efforts. With large federal cuts to critical programs and significant misinformation proliferating on social media, our network must build and join coalitions and advocate effectively at the state and federal levels to safeguard the safety-net programs our communities rely upon. Fresh off of Capitol Day, this session will share about the highest priority advocacy targets, gather feedback about how best to engage our communities in our network advocacy efforts, and invite local United Ways to engage more deeply as part of coalitions that have the power to sway federal and state policy. [Target audiences: Community Impact staff, CEOs, Board, Advocacy staff] | 10:15 am |
| Lunch | 11:45 am |
| Diversified Revenue Streams
Breakout session: Strategies to Support Our Revenue Goals In this session, participants will develop a list of potential new collaborative funding projects (e.g., CalAIM, broadband access, DXF/211, housing) that support the community impact goals of their United Ways. They will discuss ways to work together as a network to evaluate these programs and funding opportunities, use that data to identify scalable and/or shared opportunities, and then combine efforts for funding and impact. [Target audiences: Resource Development staff, CEOs, Board, Finance staff, Community Impact staff] | 12:45 pm |
| Brand Strength, Awareness & Relevance Breakout session: Bringing the Brand to Life: Stories & Strategies From the Field The United Way global brand refresh is a powerful opportunity to reintroduce ourselves with a bold, modern identity and clearer messaging—designed to better resonate with today’s audiences and fuel local support. In this interactive session, early adopters will share their rollout experiences—what’s working, what they’re learning, and what’s next. Through real-world examples and group discussion, we’ll explore how we can leverage the refresh to collectively build brand strength across the network. [Target audiences: Communications & Marketing staff, CEOs, Operations staff] | 12:45 pm |
| Transition Break | 2:15 pm |
| Final Thoughts, Reflections, Commitments, and Next Steps | 2:30 pm |
| Adjourn | 3:00 pm |
Background Info
Thriving United Way Framework
The Thriving United Way Framework is a blueprint for United Way high-performance in our dynamic philanthropic environment. The framework was co-created with network staff and drawn from current best practices, effective past United Way frameworks, and recognized nonprofit best practices. The Thriving United Way is designed to meet local United Ways of all sizes and locations where they are, while also providing aspirational direction to inspire growth and impact success, to ultimately advance the entire global Network.
