Ken Davis is Vice President of Branch Support Services at Regions Bank in Birmingham.
Since 2019, Davis has also been an active member of United Way of Central Alabama’s (UWCA’s) J. Mason Davis Leadership Society, attending every event he can with this influential body of African American changemakers who are dedicated to building a stronger community.
Davis grew up in Birmingham and said he knows the difficulties many face in the city. That knowledge, he said, is what led him to his involvement with United Way and this particular leadership society.
“I want to be a change agent,” he said. “I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines. You can always just give money and walk away, but I wanted to be there to see, ‘What can I do?’”
Davis was one of the speakers at the gathering held at the Wine Loft in downtown Birmingham, surrounded by members of his group, as well as those from UWCA’s other leadership societies — Women United and the Young Philanthropists Society. The evening marked the first time that all of United Way’s affinity groups had been brought together for one event, which kicked off a new year of programming and community involvement.
Wendi Boyen, Co-Chair of Women United, said she takes a “three-pronged” approach to planning for her fellow members, focusing on networking, volunteering and educational events.
Education is a critical part of participating in leadership societies, Boyen said. Making visits to UWCA partner agencies allows members to make the mental connection between their dollars and the impact that their support is having in Central Alabama, she said.
Boyen said that when she first got involved with Women United, she was happy to simply meet other like-minded people. But then she saw how much more substance there was to membership.
“What I appreciate about Women United is that it’s talking about the problems and talking about the challenges, but then it’s pivoting quickly to these agencies that are represented — that we can learn more about, that are doing some great work”, she said.
Victoria White, Individual Giving Officer at UWCA, thanked all the donors who came to the first-of-its-kind event.
“This is the first time we’ve hosted an all-affinity-group event, so thank you guys so much for coming tonight — and not only that but thank you for being long-time supporters and donors of United Way!” she said. UWCA’s leadership societies are an easy way to get involved and make a difference in Central Alabama. To learn about membership, visit https://www.uwca.org/leadership-giving-societies.
