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UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT | COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 2024 | 3 UNITED TO END POVERTY I t is well known that the only constant in life is change. As our realities change, we need to be flexible and sensitive to these changes in order to evolve and be effective in our approach. Since our foundation in 1924 as the Hartford Community Chest, United Way has proven its capacity to transform by aligning, responding and creating the changes that times require. Our centennial provided us with an opportunity to reflect on our mission and how we could leverage this milestone to do the most good for the most people in our region. We spent 18 months reviewing data and listening to people in our community. This effort included donors, members of local government, volunteers, corporations and nonprofit partners. This led us to our bold new path for the future: United to End Poverty. United Way is respected across the region and is positioned to help increase community impact and equity. We know we cannot do this work alone, but we recognize our strength as a mobilizer, as an organization that not just convenes financial assets to create an impact, but provides social, intellectual, reputational and human capital for the common good. Today, we aim to end poverty in all its forms by closing gaps in child literacy, housing, wages and life expectancy. These focus areas emerged from community conversations we had last year with nearly 400 stakeholders across our region. Since my arrival to the organization two-and-a-half years ago, we started a transformative process that began with this grassroots involvement. Now that the collaborative design sessions concluded last fall, we enter our next phase — producing tangible solutions to put into action. Tweaks are not enough. Communities want bold systems change to improve outcomes and reduce disparities. Our new approach includes: • Aligning community, corporate, government and philanthropic partners to end poverty. • Leveraging our 100 years of expertise, experience, data, community voice and resources to deepen impact. • Connecting people with resources and opportunities to make a difference. • Transforming the future with game - changing solutions and partnerships. Our century of service to the 860 region provides us with the unique ability to convene and mobilize partners across sectors, amplifying the impact that we can make together. Internally, we have evolved in alignment with our new strategic vision. We amplified those who we identified as strategic community partners. Our partnerships, including public-private collaborations, are broader and are better aligned to the specific goal of ending extreme and working poverty. Externally, we look different as we adopted a global brand refresh led by United Way Worldwide. This refresh includes new colors, graphics, fonts and a whole different way of talking about the work that we do. This rebranding came at an ideal time, aligning with our new strategic vision inspired by our future. We have been here for the last 100 years, and our vision is to continue into our next chapter of service with an evolved perspective. My hope is that our initiatives can be more preventive instead of responsive to crises, inequities and systemic burdens faced by our communities. My dream is to live in a community where everyone has the opportunities needed to succeed and has the capacity to contribute to social good. We live in a resilient society; that's why I know we are not alone in our goal to end poverty in all its forms in the 860 region. In partnership, Eric Harrison President and CEO United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut Follow me on LinkedIn