UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL IOWA BLOG

Sunnie Richer was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after her parents fled war in Lithuania. At age 3, she immigrated with her family to the United States, grew up in Chicago, and eventually, moved to Des Moines to head IBM’s Iowa operation. Her career included building several successful businesses after she left IBM.  

United Way of Central Iowa has hired Stephanie Chin as community impact officer – income. In this role, Stephanie will lead the community’s efforts to increase the percentage of central Iowans who are financially self-sufficient.

United Way of Central Iowa commends Future Ready Iowa Co-Chairs, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Dan Houston, and the Future Ready Iowa Alliance, for the final policy recommendations released yesterday. 

The National Fund is awarding $900,000 in grants made possible through a grant from Walmart to the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative, Central Iowa Works, and SkillUp Washington. The grants will be given in $100,000 increments each year for three years to each organization to support their efforts to work with employers, educators, and community leaders to expand opportunities in retail and connected sectors. These programs will offer additional training to workers, building career pathways and incorporating business strategies that help employees advance into higher positions with an ultimate goal of making a positive impact on regional retail economies.

With more than 600,000 open positions and a current total employment of more than 48 million individuals, the retail and adjacent service sectors have a large footprint in our nation’s economy. Thirty-two percent of first jobs are in retail, and with low barriers to entry and potential for advancement, the National Fund sees the retail sector as a prime opportunity for individuals to learn critical skills and start a career.

“The retail industry is a major employer in the United States, and it is critical that the millions of retail jobs provide real opportunity for the employees and value for employers,” said Fred Dedrick, president and CEO of the National Fund. “This project is a tremendous opportunity to help employers improve the quality of their jobs as well as their competitiveness by helping workers advance on a career pathway. By partnering with communities, educators, and retailers, we can make retail an even better industry to start or grow a career.”

Dan Witters, lead researcher at Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, will meet with community stakeholders to discuss central Iowa’s progress in five factors of well-being and strategize future efforts to improve the health and well-being of central Iowa residents on Tuesday, September 26. Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index studies Americans’ well-being in 189 metropolitan areas and provides the measure for central Iowa’s community Goal for 2020 in health. 

“I was more scared to leave prison than I was to go to prison.”

Jamie Roos shared her story of re-entering society after serving 16 years at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville to a crowd of about 60 people on Thursday, September 14. 

On Tuesday, September 12, United Way of Central Iowa will host its annual Day of Action, our community’s biggest day of volunteer service. Approximately 4,500 volunteers from 43 local companies will fan across the community, working on volunteer projects that will benefit 26 area nonprofits.  

 United Way of Central Iowa has promoted Renée Miller to Chief Community Impact Officer, starting July 10.

United Way of Central Iowa’s board of directors has approved the addition of six members who joined on July 1, 2017, for a two-year term. Tom Mahoney, chairman and CEO of ITA Group, was named board chair, and Nora Everett, president of retirement and income solutions at Principal, became chair-elect.

United Way of Central Iowa has hired Seth Johnson as OpportUNITY Program Director. In this role, Seth will lead the community's collective impact plan to eliminate barriers to self-sufficiency and reduce poverty in central Iowa.