TAUW Legends – Mark Graham

Jesse Boudiette: Why do you Live United? 

Mark Graham: The United Way’s history has been, for a hundred years, to identify needs in the community and those organizations that are best equipped to deal with those needs, to help in those particular areas. When I became CEO, one of the pieces I thought was missing was how does the United Way get involved in a more collaborative way to help tackle things that are too big for one agency? Issues like homelessness or hunger—they’re enormous, and no single agency can handle them alone. So, I’m really proud to think that we were able to bring together other nonprofits, not necessarily only United Way partner agencies, but also foundations, the City, to sit around the table and identify what are those things that are in greatest need in the community and how do we collectively bring volunteers and resources to the table. We launched Community Collaboratives, and that was a bit of a game changer for United Way, expanding beyond the traditional role of supporting individual partner agencies and broadening to a community scope with many people, organizations, and entities working together.   

Jesse: You were CEO for ten years, ten campaigns, millions of dollars raised. What are some other major accomplishments, milestones, or highlights that you’re proud of?   

Mark: I like the fact we talked about the Community Collaborations; I love that we launched that. We also launched a program, Social Innovation Grants. The idea behind it was that there are people who have really good ideas for things they want to test to see if they work in the nonprofit world, but it’s hard to find funding for that. So, we came up with a program—it’s kind of like Shark Tank. People apply, they have a 10-minute pitch on what it is they want to do, and then a panel decides if there will be some minimal funding to help them do that. At the end of the year, we get to see if it worked or not, and some of these have become very successful programs within our agency. So, I like that idea. I like the fact that this was something that hadn’t been happening before.  

Jesse: United Way turns 100 this year. An organization doesn’t get to that age without successfully passing the enthusiasm and torch on to each new generation. For the next crop of folks about to step up and be part of that for, hopefully, a long time, what advice do you have for them?  

Mark: Don’t be scared, just jump in. If you have a passion, a particular passion—if it’s helping young people learn how to read, if it’s helping people find housing—wherever your interest is, I can promise you there’s an area of that focus within United Way. Don’t be bashful about asking how you can help, and then match it with where you’re really interested. I think that’s the best experience because if it’s something that really tugs at your heartstrings and you’re volunteering, which always feels good, it feels doubly good if you’re doing it in an area that’s particularly meaningful to you.