February Newsletter Article: New Director and Upcoming Projects!

Here is our first article for our February Newsletter!

Last August, the Shawano Area United Way Board of Directors was pleased to hire a new Executive Director. Nancy Schultz, our previous Director had accepted another position but has happily remained on as a Board Member and continued to fill in during the interim period while we searched for her replacement. There were several applicants that were interviewed. One really surprised us, Rev. Uriah Williams, who had been serving on the Board for two years by that time! A week after we posted the position, he sent an email to the board expressing his interest and removed himself from all discussions regarding the hiring process for the new Director. After conducting interviews with multiple candidates, the Board extended an offer to Uriah which he was happy to accept!

Uriah comes to us with a wide variety of experiences. He holds his Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and is an ordained clergy member of the United Church of Christ and works part time at the regional level still as a registrar and teacher while fulfilling his duties part time as the United Way Executive Director. He served for three years as a combat engineer in the U.S. Army where he achieved the rank of Sergeant and filled roles such as the Suicide Intervention NCO for his company and the Reconnaissance NCO in addition to his duty as a Team Leader. In the nonprofit world, Uriah has four years of experience leading local churches and has been a lifelong volunteer starting with his local 4-H program in Iowa where he grew up. In Shawano, he is a member of the American Legion, served for a year on the Board of Directors at SAM25, a member of sayPro, served for two years on the Board for our United Way, and most recently has become more involved with the Wolf River Region NAMI. 

Since starting in August, Uriah has been very busy! He helped lead our fundraising campaign this fall which also included a brand-new fundraiser: Amish Fry Pies for Thanksgiving! He has been busy behind the scenes connecting with our nonprofit community in Shawano and organized the first of what will be quarterly nonprofit events with a networking potluck for our local organizations last fall. In addition to these physical items, Uriah has also been steadily updating our website, learning more about our programs like the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and helping develop our online presence more. And of course, he has been working to put together a new quarterly newsletter to keep the Shawano Area informed about what's going on with its nonprofit community!

We have some ambitious goals for this upcoming year at United Way! First and foremost was this newsletter which we believe will be a great value to the whole community. Second, we are working on developing a database of volunteer opportunities to connect the community with nonprofit organizations and their programs that need more help. Lastly, we are hoping to bolster the networking and sharing of resources between nonprofits in a variety of ways starting with these quarterly events. These events will be a mix of connection opportunities, learning options, and times to connect with the wider community. Big things are happening this year with United Way and we hope that you'll be involved with them! If you have any questions or want to learn more about our work at the Shawano Area United Way, send us an email at unitedwayofshawanocounty@gmail.com. Thank you for your support and we look forward to living united with you this year!