United Way & CGLR: Aligning for Impact in Education

– Mary Sellers, United Way of Central Iowa

This December 13,2022 Crucible of Practice Salon webinar featured speakers from United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI) and Oakridge Neighborhood as it explored how Iowa’s largest United Way approaches its education work across different lines of business connecting donors, advocacy, data, funding and partnerships toward collective impact in early childhood and education success.

United Way Worldwide serves more than 1,100 communities across 37 countries and territories around the globe. The work of United Way is synonymous with community impact in health, education and financial stability. Fueled by volunteers and passion within the local communities, United Way offers resources and support for local program partners. Across the GLR Network, United Ways make up the greatest percentage of backbone agencies for local CGLR coalitions and continue to be an important national and local partner in our shared work. This session examined the story of how the largest United Way in Iowa approaches their education work across different lines of business, connecting donors, advocacy, data, funding and partnerships toward collective impact in early childhood and education success.

The session opened with an introduction to the United to Thrive framework by Mary Sellers, President of United Way of Central Iowa. Sellers described the five components of United to Thrive, which when pieced together support a thriving community. These include economic opportunity, health and well-being, essential needs, early childhood success and education success.

“Equity is at the center of everything we do. Everything is connected and we can’t do one piece of the work without the other. This means focusing internally as well as externally. We’re looking at this from three pillars; individual, institutional and systemic, to be able to make a difference and a change for our community to thrive.” – Rubén Vázquez Ruiz

Equity is embedded throughout each piece of the work. Rubén Vázquez Ruiz, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, shared the ways in which United Way of Central Iowa ensures that equity is woven in with all elements, including strategic and resource investment decisions. Kate Bennett, Community Impact Officer in Early Childhood and Education Success, provided a summary of the key strategies within the early childhood success work.

Jaclyn Wulfekuhle, Women United Director, offered details of the donor affinity group and how its focus on investments mobilizes volunteers and funding toward supporting work in reading, developmental and childhood mental health screenings, and resources for childcare centers serving families with low incomes. Women United is also connected with efforts in advocacy. Dave Stone, Advocacy Officer, explained the approach UWCI takes with advocating for state policy change, impacting state and local systems. Marian Rueter Godwin, Community Impact Services Director, and Rachelle Talbott, Research Associate, reviewed their use of Results Based Accountability and data as a driver of continuous improvement. The data collected influences strategic decisions as well as resource allocations. Talbott also provided a quick demonstration of how Clear Impact Scorecard works in real time. Cheryl Werner, Education Coordinator, described three national programs implemented by UWCI within their education work. John Spinks Jr, Program Manager with Oakridge Neighborhood, directs programs funded by UWCI, and he offered examples of how the partnership has benefited children and youth served.

“Because of our collaboration and partnership with United Way, we were able to receive additional funding to do a number of things for our youth. For example, we felt it was extremely important when students went to virtual learning that they came to a place where they had adult supervision and support. We were able to have the students in their seats with the computers on to get their academics done for the day. It was a long stretch, but we were one of a few programs in the city that did not shut down. The partnership allowed us to provide a clean and safe learning environment and we were able to continue to work with students to make sure they were successful during those times.” – John Spinks Jr