TAUW LEGENDS: LINDa jenkins
The TAUW Legends video series preserves the voices and stories of those who shaped our first century of service. As part of our Centennial celebration, Jesse Boudiette, president of Propeller Consulting and Centennial Committee member, sat down with Linda Jenkins, a past TAUW Fund Distribution and Agency Relations Vice President.
Join us in continuing Linda’s legacy of compassion and community impact. Your gift today in honor of Linda helps write the next chapter of our story, ensuring that future generations will have access to the same life-changing services that have touched so many lives over the past century.
Interview highlights
Jesse Boudiette: Well, let’s start by just, from the very beginning, how did you get involved at the United Way?
Linda Jenkins: Actually, I was a volunteer on the Venture Grant Committee, and at the time, I had been doing that for, I think, about a year and a half, and the position of Fund Distribution and Agency Relations Vice President came open. It sounded like it would be a good opportunity and a good way for me to really continue to serve in the Tulsa community.
Jesse: How does the United Way help nonprofit partners?
Linda: So I think that having a system in place that really assures people that there is important accountability for how their dollars are being invested is incredibly important. We also were instrumental in supporting the work being done around HIV/AIDS, and we had a member organization, Tulsa CARES, which was, you know, doing that work. And at that time, there was a lot of discrimination, and people were not being treated very well by many in our community who had HIV or AIDS. And so it was very important to me personally and, I think, to our Tulsa Area United Way volunteers and our Tulsa Area United Way community to say, “What can we do to ensure that everyone is being treated with dignity and respect regardless of what their circumstances are?”
Jesse: You’ve shared that you have a very personal connection to giving through United Way. Could you tell me more about that?
Linda: I felt a personal joy in giving because when my father died in 1998, just five months after I had joined United Way, he had his hospice care provided by Hospice of Green Country. You can see I can still choke up about that experience so many years later. My family’s experience was made so much easier because people cared, and they had the skills and the ability to come in and provide that service for us as a family. And after that, my mother even served on the Hospice of Green Country Board for several years as a way to say thank you and to support that service being provided to others in the community. And I think that it’s really uplifting and still gives me a sense of joy that I was able to support that type of service being available for anyone who needs it in our community.