United Way of Central Alabama (UWCA) just wrapped up its inaugural LEARN United Cohort with a graduation event held at partner agency United Ability.
LEARN United, which stands for Leadership Education and Readiness for Nonprofits, is a program developed by UWCA that provides professional development opportunities at no cost to United Way partner agencies. The cohort that concluded in June, titled “Intentionally Centered Management,” was a 12-week series designed to strengthen the leadership skills of managers from the 12 United Way partner agencies in attendance.
Graduating participants came together for one more session with cohort leader Kathy Boswell, CEO of B.Intentional. Leaders from each organization took part in one last exercise before celebrating their employees’ graduation from the program.
The agencies represented in the cohort included:
- Arc of Shelby County.
- Childcare Resources.
- Crisis Center.
- Girls Inc. of Central Alabama.
- Habitat for Humanity Greater Birmingham.
- Levite Jewish Community Center.
- Owens House.
- Pathways.
- SafeHouse of Shelby County.
- St. Clair County Day Program.
- United Ability.
- Workshops Empowerment Inc.
Leadership skills honed through the program have already proven beneficial to participants and their organizations. In May, for example, Tori Overton was promoted to Advocacy and Operations Manager at Owens House, a children’s advocacy center in Shelby County.
Overton had been working at the agency for five years as a Family Advocate, following an internship at Owens House while studying at the University of Montevallo. Although initially nervous about moving into a management position, Overton said that the role has been a good fit.
She cited some of the key points that were made early into the Unted Way cohort that have been particularly helpful in her new role, such as proving yourself worthy of the respect of the people you manage and understanding individuals’ unique strengths and overall value rather than focusing on their weaknesses.
The fact that United Way covers the cost of this training, Overton said, “will be really impactful” for the long-term sustainability of agencies across Central Alabama.
LEARN United is an integral part of UWCA’s effort to provide a broad network of support to its partner agencies that goes far beyond funding. Katrina Watson, the visionary behind LEARN United, serves as UWCA’s Senior Vice President of Community Impact. At the cohort’s graduation, Watson thanked the participants, as well as their agency’s leaders.
“I really appreciate all of you for investing and being vulnerable and being willing to learn throughout this process,” Watson said.
For more about LEARN United programming, as well as details on upcoming opportunities, click here.