RUNNING HEAD: United Way of Delaware Agency Report 1

United Way of Delaware Agency Report

Brittany D. Mingo

Wilmington University

February 6, 2017
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Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the United Way of Delaware. The

report also highlights the role of the Community Engagement Intern currently placed at the

organization during Spring 2017.

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The mission of United Way of Delaware is to maximize the communitys resources to

improve the quality of life for all Delawareans. Serving Kent, Sussex and New Castle County,

United Way of Delaware is the only United Way in the national network to serve an entire state.

According to the United States Census, Delaware has a population of 952,065 people. The racial

composition of the state is 68% White American, 21.4% Black or African American, 8%

Hispanic, and 3% Asian. The median household income is $60,509 with 12% of the state living

in poverty. While 83% of the state hold a high school diploma or higher only 34% of residents

hold a Bachelors Degree or higher.

To meet its mission, United Way of Delaware focuses on three strategies: Early

Educational Success, College and Career Readiness, and Financial Stability. Through programs

such as My Very Own Library and Reading Angels, United Way of Delaware partners with

Scholastics Books, DuPont, Global Shapers, and United Health Care, to increase the number of

children who are on track for 3rd grade literacy. In order to provide resources to result in financial

stability in families within the state, United Way of Delaware offers free tax filing, home

ownership programs and credit repair workshops. United Way also has six affinity groups:

Revive the Village, which focuses on community development and the empowering of young

men; Womens Leadership Council, a council that focuses on developing and promoting women

empowerment; PRIDE Council, a council dedicated to providing safe spaces for members of the

LGBTQ community across the state; Student United Way, a program dedicated to fulfilling the

purposes of the second strategy of United Way of Delaware; Young United Professionals, a

network that gives opportunities for young professionals to socialize and collaborate; and Latinos

Unidos an affinity group dedicated to providing services and programming to the Latino

communities of Delaware.
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Overall United Way of Delaware likes to refer itself as a world class collaborator. The

organization prides itself in facilitating and being involved in partnerships with other

organization in order to increase the impact of services for the community of Delaware. The

organization does this in two ways: 1) Maintaining partnerships with organizations classified as

Community Investment Partners and, 2) Maintaining partnerships with organizations classified

as Community Engagement Partners. United Way of Delaware has partnerships with over 60

organizations who are Community Investment Partners. Community Investment Partners are

organization that United Way funds in order to provide communities with programming, services

and resources that fall in line with the three strategies of the organization.

United Way of Delaware has an extensive organizational chart; for the purposes of this

paper, an organizational chart for the Community Engagement Team will be used. At the top of

the chart is Michelle Taylor. Taylor has worked as the CEO of United Way of Delaware since

2008. In her role, she is responsible for guiding and sharing the vision of the organization.

Overseeing all departments of the organization, Taylor makes sure that all initiatives fall under

the three strategies. Aside from mobilizing the vision, Taylor ensures that the agency has the

resources necessary to do the work for the community. Working closely with Michelle Taylor is

Jamee Boone, Chief of Staff. As Chief of Staff, Jamee is tasked with providing leadership to the

staff. In her role, she makes it a point to create an inclusive and cohesive work environment for

all employees. While she works closely with the staff, she also shares responsibilities similar to

that of the CEO for the purposes of providing assistance to overseeing the financial operations as

well as administrative task. Jamee also works closely with the CEO to help maintain the vision

and shape the future of United Way of Delaware. Directly under the Chief of Staff is, Orrin

White, the Associate Director of Community Engagement. Orrin is responsible for overseeing all
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community engagement efforts of United Way. Orrin is responsible for cultivating and growing

relationships between key stakeholders in the community

Jamee Boone
Cheif of Staff
and United Way of Delaware. Reporting to Mr. White is Rita
Michelle Taylor

Orrin White
Associate Director of
Community Engagment Bell. Rita Bell is the administrative coordinator. As
CEO

Rita Bell
Administrative administrative coordinator, Ms. Bell is responsible for all
Coordinator

Brittany Mingo administrative tasks. Finding a definite definition of all that

Community Engagement
Intern
her job encompasses is difficult as she wears many hats and

works directly with every team in the United Way office.

United Way of Delaware prides itself on being

world class collaborators ultimately always engaging in partnerships whether it is through

funding, man power, marketing etc. in order to maximize the resources and impact within the

Delaware community. The organization builds relationships with a large number of organizations

in order to pool resources for the benefit of the state of Delaware. United Way of Delaware does

this in two ways, through Strategic Engagement Partners and Strategic Investment Partners.

Strategic Engagement Partners are collaborators who share common strategies and are engaged

in mutual events and committees; these organizations also support the fundraising efforts of

United Way of Delaware; the organization has 75 community engagement partners, including

Wilmington University.

United Way of Delaware values excellence in service and professionalism. Due to the

vast partnerships that the organization has, there are strict guidelines on how administrative task

are completed. The first thing that must be understood is that United Way of Delaware operates

and respects chains of command. This is not due to love of power or position instead; it is to

maintain organization, cohesiveness and a level of accountability. All employees and volunteers
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are expected to follow the hierarchy within the organization and will be redirected if any chance

the order has not been correctly followed. United Way of Delaware also strongly monitors any

conflict of interest, staff for United Way of Delaware must be sure to avoid relationships with

other organizations that there is a conflict of interest not only with United Way, but with partner

organizations. It is highly important that employees and volunteers do not use United Way of

Delawares relationship with businesses and organizations as an opportunity for personal gain.

Confidentiality is also highly valued within the organization. With the possibility of new

initiatives, programs and partnerships always present, United Way of Delaware must trust that

employees do not share information with the public or anyone outside of the United Way of

Delaware prematurely. Lastly, United Way of Delaware prides itself on being a top-tier non-

profit organization. United Way of Delaware has a track record and reputation that allows the

organization to work with many high-level officials, businesses and organizations. Due to the

fact possibility of being pulled into a meeting at any time, United Way has a strict business

professional dress code that must be followed at all times, unless otherwise authorized.

As the Community Engagement Intern, I am responsible for three projects. My first

responsibility is to plan the culminating events for the My Very Own Library initiative in each

county. My Very Own Library is collaboration amongst 8 organizations: United Way of

Delaware, DuPont, Global Shapers, Scholastics, United Healthcare and Wilmington Education

Improvement Commission. The goal of My Very Own Library statewide initiative is to have

students in schools with lower performing ELA scores own and read 10 new books per year. The

slogan for the initiative is 59,000 books5,900 students14 schools 7 districts3

counties 1 state reading united. Currently, I am planning a celebration that acknowledges and

highlights the success of students who have increased their reading grade level and have read
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over ten books throughout the school year. This project has been assigned to me in order to meet

the need of an event coordinator for United Way and, to give me the opportunity to build skills

and experience in an area of interest, project management. My second responsibility is to create

the first monthly newsletter to be used for Women United. Women United is a global network of

women who play an active role in addressing the needs of their community. The goal of the

newsletter is to keep women in the state of Delaware informed about the work that is being done

by peers and keeping them aware of the current events that affect women. My last project is to

create a press kit for United Way of Delawares affinity groups. The press kit will showcase the

services and events that each affinity group offers it members.