United We Thrive: California United Ways Conference May 5-7, 2025 - United Ways of California

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.

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 are non-refundable, but you may transfer your registration to another representative from your organization. Please submit transfer requests by Wednesday, April 30, if possible.

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 PricingFirst Registrant Per UWAdditional Registrants Per UW
Subsidized, Early Bird (by 4/4)$350$200
Subsidized, Regular (after 4/4)$400$250

Tickets

The numbers below include tickets for this event already in your cart. Clicking "Get Tickets" will allow you to edit any existing attendee information as well as change ticket quantities.
Subsidized, Early Bird: First Registrant (CA UW)
$ 350.00
Unlimited
Subsidized, Early Bird: Additional Registrant(s) (CA UW)
$ 200.00
Unlimited

Non California United Ways Pricing
Subsidized, Early Bird (by 4/4)$350
Subsidized, Regular (after 4/4)$400

Tickets

The numbers below include tickets for this event already in your cart. Clicking "Get Tickets" will allow you to edit any existing attendee information as well as change ticket quantities.
Subsidized, Early Bird (Non-CA UW)
$ 350.00
Unlimited

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 Friday, April 4th. Please note that hotel room availability is on a first come, first serve basis.

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.

The following is our current schedule for the 2025 California United Ways Conference and is subject to change. Check back for more detailed session descriptions in the coming weeks.

Pre-Conference Day: Monday, May 5, 2025
Agenda ItemTime
Wells Fargo Subgrantees Financial Stability Convening2:00 pm
Welcome Happy Hour (optional, self-hosted)5:00 pm
Networking Dinners (optional)7:00 pm
Day 1: Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Agenda Item Time
Breakfast available8:00 am
Welcome, Introduction Activities, Agenda Overview, Group Agreements9:00 am
Welcome & State of the Network: Pete Manzo, President & CEO, United Ways of California 9:45 am
Break10:15 am
Thriving United Way Framework & Self Assessments–An Overview: Grounding into the six pillars of the Thriving United Way Framework–and sharing how LUWs are using the self assessments to identify improvement priorities and strategies to achieve improvement goals.10:30 am
Community Leadership & Network Citizenship Session: Identifying our challenges and opportunities for 2025 and beyond, and opportunities for network collaboration.11:15 am
Lunch12:15 pm
Equitable Community Impact & Strong Organizational Foundation: Keeping Equity at the Center1:00 pm
Break2:30 pm
Breakout sessions on: Diversified Revenue Streams; Strong Organizational Foundation; Equitable Community Impact3:00 pm
Happy Hour (optional, self-hosted)4:30 pm
Networking Dinners (optional)6:30 pm
Day 2: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Agenda ItemTime
Breakfast available8:00 am
Quick Agenda Overview, Reminder of Group Agreements, and Another Ice Breaker8:30 am
Community Leadership & Diversified Revenue Streams Session: Fortifying Our Positions as Community Partners of Choice9:00 am
Break (possible hotel check-out opportunity)10:00 am
Breakout sessions on: Strong Organizational Foundation; Brand Strength, Awareness & Relevance; Equitable Community Impact10:15 am
Lunch11:45 am
Breakout sessions on: Diversified Revenue Streams; Brand Strength, Awareness & Relevance; Community Leadership & Network Citizenship12:45 pm
Transition Break2:15 pm
Final Thoughts, Reflections, Commitments, and Next Steps2:30 pm
Adjourn 3:00 pm
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.

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