David Nicole
Currently: Interim CDO at United Way of Forsyth County, NC, and Owner of Headwinds Consulting, Fort Wayne, IN *Tell us about yourself I am a husband, father, and citizen. I have a beautiful wife of 23 years and we have two teenagers, a 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. Our lives are a chaotic mix of running kids around, attending various high school and middle school sporting events, helping with homework, earning a paycheck, and taking walks with our dog. *Describe your history with United Way My career with United Way started in Charleston, South Carolina, as a Sponsored Loaned Executive. I spent 14 years at Trident United Way, ten of those years serving as the VP of Resource Development. While in Charleston, I also served on the Board of the United Way Association of South Carolina. Then, an opportunity arose to serve my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana, as President & CEO of United Way of Allen County, which I did for five years. During this time, I served as the chair for the United Way Northeast Indiana Consortium and co-chair for the Great Rivers Conference. After founding Headwinds Consulting, I found myself providing strategic planning and fundraising strategies to multiple United Ways. Over the past four years, I have served as either Interim CEO or Interim CDO for Lake Area United Way, United Way Northwest Indiana, and the United Way of Winston-Salem. *How did you come to know UW NEXT, and how have you been involved so far? When I left Charleston to become the CEO in Fort Wayne, my former boss and mentor, Chris Kerrigan, told me to always support the United Way Retirees Association (he had brought in an interim CFO through UWRA, and it has worked out wonderfully). As such, UW of Allen County became a member of UWRA. After starting Headwinds Consulting, I became an individual member of UWRA. The individual membership provided me the opportunity to learn about interim leadership. I then became part of the UW NEXT Interim Executive Roundtable. Knowing that some of my work was in race, equity, and inclusion, I was asked to serve on UW NEXT’s DEI Strategy Work Group. This allowed me to work side by side with UW NEXT Board Members and Group members to develop UW NEXT’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. *What are you looking forward to most about serving on the Board? UW NEXT is at an inflection point. Under recent leadership, the organization has transitioned significantly and is becoming more and more relevant to the United Way Network. I look forward to watching UW NEXT provide the tools, resources, and support to help UW Alumni, UW Retirees, current UW employees and local United Ways transform their communities. *What would you like to share that UW NEXT members may not already know about you? I have a 100-year-old grandfather. He is a World War II veteran and continues to live on his own and drive. One of my favorite activities is asking him about a specific time in his life and learning about our family’s, community’s, and country’s history. |
Rodney Prunty
Currently: President & CEO of UW of North Central New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM *Tell us about yourself I am a father and a husband to my wonderful wife, Melanie. We will have been married for 20 years this July and have three children, Madison, Rodney II, and Mia. We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Besides spending time with my family in my spare time, I work out regularly and am an avid fan of the NFL and NBA; I have been a Los Angeles Rams and Lakers fan since 1981. *Describe your history with United Way I have served as a United Way professional in the Network since 2007. I began my career in my hometown of Rockford, IL, and have served in Racine County, WI, as President & CEO for six years and am now in my fifth year as President & CEO for United Way of North Central New Mexico. I have held a few roles in my tenure–Resource Development Manager (3 years), Vice President (COO) (3 years), and President & CEO (11 years). I have also participated on several United Way Worldwide ad hoc groups and taskforces, which include: the National President’s Council (NPC), UWW Tiger Team (Strategic Planning), Culture Transformation Taskforce, and Co-Chair of the UW Black Professional Leadership Alliance (BPLA). I have also served as the Board Chair of United Way of Wisconsin (2018-19), Chair of the Great Rivers Conference (2016), Co-Chair of the Western Regional Conference (2022 & 2024). *How did you come to know UW NEXT, and how have you been involved so far? I was aware of UW NEXT in its previous iteration, the UW Retirees Association and have provided financial support as CEO of two United Ways since 2013. My involvement with UW NEXT deepened through my participation as a member of the Engage and Exchange Work Group. *What are you looking forward to most about serving on the Board? Working closely with Carole Peters, whom I adore! I also look forward to contributing my thoughts and perspectives to help support the work of UW NEXT, which is continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the Network. *What would you like to share that UW NEXT members may not already know about you? I hail from a family of musicians. I played the drums in a band earlier in life. My brother, a retired Air Force veteran, is a bassist for his church and my father has been a singer, songwriter and recording artist since the 1960’s and still makes music to this day! |
Kerri Strauss
Currently: Interim Executive Director, Editorial Freelancers Association and Owner of Kerri Strauss Consulting, PA *Tell us about yourself Hi, I’m Kerri Strauss, and I’m all about what’s NEXT! Be it professional or personal journeys, I’m always curious and excited for the next opportunity. I look at my life as a series of chapters in a book. I turn each page with curiosity. I conclude each chapter with excitement to see what will happen in the next chapter. I retired early, from a traditional full-time job, to embark on my next endeavor, which ended up being consulting and freelance writing—and—joining UW Next and Third Sector Company’s Interim Executives Academy… which then brought me to my next stage of life, serving as an interim director of various nonprofits. *Describe your history with United Way I served ten years as the first ever Executive Director of United Way of Bradford County. During my tenure, I developed a robust board and volunteer engagement program and strong community partnerships. I have my master’s degree in social work and have served in AmeriCorps. I enjoy presenting workshops on various topics including nonprofit governance and health and wellness. I’m a graduate of the Third Sector Company Cohort #14 and am currently serving as Interim Executive Director of the Editorial Freelancers Association based out of New York City and running a small consulting business on the side. *How did you come to know UW NEXT, and how have you been involved so far? I am a proud member of UW Next! I have always been drawn to community impact work, starting at a young age as a Girl Scout Brownie. I enjoy making a difference where I live. Joining service clubs in high school and college, volunteering at various nonprofits, I found United Way at a young age. While working on my Master of Social Work degree, I requested an internship placement in my local UW’s Community Impact Division. This led to a decade of UW employment. I am a proud UW alumni, having served as the Volunteer Center Program Manager for three years at United Way of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania, and the Executive Director of United Way of Bradford County in Towanda, Pennsylvania, for 10 years. After starting my own consulting business, (kerristraussconsulting.com) I joined UW Next to keep connected to my UW Family. The United Way network is one in that I have always found positive connections. Shortly after joining UW Next, I learned about the Third Sector Company’s Interim Executives Academy. I enrolled in the Fall of 2022 and quickly developed a new passion—for helping nonprofit organizations during their times of transition. I served as the Interim President and CEO of United Way of Greater Union County in Elizabeth, NJ, in 2022 and am now serving as the Interim Executive Director of the Editorial Freelancers Association based out of NYC but working remotely. The connections I have made through UW Next have greatly benefited my consulting business and have led to connections such as the Interim Academy and much more! I continue to work full time as an Interim, do my consulting business on the side, and to write any-and-every chance I get. I’m serving as a mentor for a new Executive Director of a UW in Louisiana. I also serve on the Engage and Exchange Work Group of UW Next and the newly formed Podcast sub-committee and attend monthly member meetups. UW Next has provided me with ways to contribute meaningfully to the broader UW Network. I enjoy staying connected to such an instrumental piece of community impact. I find deep meaning in the volunteer work I do with UW Next. I am super excited to join the board of UW Next and serve in this new capacity! *What are you looking forward to most about serving on the Board? The main value I find through UW Next is the members. It’s always the people, right? People make all the difference. It’s the personal relationships we develop in life that matter most—our family, friends, colleagues, retirees, volunteers, at all stages of life. I’ve found professional connections, colleagues who have enhanced my career, and even colleagues who have become friends. Having a strong network to rely on—personally and professionally—has greatly enhanced this next stage of my life. I am most looking forward to serving the members of UW Next by serving on the board and representing our membership. *What would you like to share that UW NEXT members may not already know about you? UW Next has been a tremendous resource for me as I continue the path of community enrichment. I truly feel that together we find value and purpose. Join me in your NEXT endeavor! |
Terry Tolan
Currently: Consultant, Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Louisville, KY *Tell us about yourself As a contract consultant with the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Louisville, Kentucky, I assist a diverse group of nonprofits in maximizing their performance to better achieve their missions. I am married to fellow retired United Way CEO, Joe Tolan. *Describe your history with United Way My career in the United Way system has spanned almost 24 years, including service in 3 local United Ways and 15 years as the CEO of United Way of Kentucky. At United Way of Kentucky, I created and delivered staff and volunteer training, facilitated strategic planning, raised public awareness, and conducted organizational assessments for United Ways and other human service organizations regionally and nationally. I led the system's public policy efforts in Kentucky and Washington, DC, and served in many leadership roles at both the regional and national levels. I also served as the administrator for the Kentucky Employee Charitable Campaign. *How did you come to know UW NEXT, and how have you been involved so far? In 2020 and 2021, I facilitated strategic planning for United Way NEXT. One of the outcomes of that plan included the new name and brand. In 2022, my husband Joe and I hosted the (long delayed by COVID) United Way NEXT Gathering in Louisville and had such fun showing off the community and the horse racing and bourbon for which it is famous. I currently co-chair the Engage and Exchange Work Group with Jim Yu. The Work Group makes recommendations for virtual programs that will appeal to current United Way staff, retirees, and alumni. *What are you looking forward to most about serving on the Board? When I worked for United Way, I always said that the reason I stayed on was because I worked with the best people in every community I served. I look forward to continuing to prove that true through my involvement in the Engage and Exchange Work Group and the Board. I believe United Way NEXT members continue to be passionate about the work of the network and want to continue to support it. *What would you like to share that UW NEXT members may not already know about you? Due to my United Way public policy work, after leaving the United Way system, I served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Governor’s Office of Early Childhood. While there, my team and I secured a $44 million Race to the Top Grant to transform early childhood systems in the state. My husband Joe and I love to travel. We look forward to more opportunities to do so in 2024. |
Jeffrey Wilcox
Currently: President and Chief Mission Advancement Officer, Third Sector Company, SPC, Seattle, WA *Tell us about yourself I am the youngest son of a newspaper reporter and publisher, so I’ve got an unmistakable curiosity streak within my DNA. That usually translates into a love for connecting with people, getting at the truth by asking a lot of questions, working with groups, and turning problems into opportunities. United Way’s Community Problem Solving business model was a natural attraction and it still is. I’m an artist at heart as I started playing the piano at an extremely young age and worked my way through college playing piano bar. That was a handy skill to have when the entertainment didn’t show up or couldn’t be located for United Way report meetings and leadership giving socials. I met my wife, another United Way staffer, 40 years ago. United Way’s mission and what it stands for are part of the solid foundation we share for helping others and edifying communities together. *Describe your history with United Way For nearly 20 years I had the privilege of serving United Ways in Seattle, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. My entire history was a West Coast experience that afforded me wonderful opportunities to experience and thrive. I started my career in marketing, but it morphed into something quite different as I began to realize that people were expecting community impact. I became fascinated by the planning and allocations function as a product management function. That would eventually lead to deeply satisfying senior leadership positions in community impact where I had an opportunity to rethink and re-engineer traditional planning and fund distribution systems into a series of community impact products and processes that people would want to invest in. One of the highlights of my career was to co-author the Fund Distribution Redesign model for United Way of America. *How did you come to know UW NEXT, and how have you been involved so far? My career has been enriched because of the countless contributions that great legends of United Way have had on my life both at work and at home. I stand on the shoulders of some great legends who have changed our nation by their wisdom and by their achievements. United Way NEXT was a natural choice to remain in community with these individuals and to continue honoring who they are and learning from what they have accomplished. It also allowed me to stay in touch with colleagues who I consider to be dear friends. In the end, United Way NEXT offers the largest voluntary resource available to United Way Worldwide to help advance a challenged national system. I want to continue being a part of a national community impact movement and to see the network and the United Way brand remain successful because of its life-changing results. *What are you looking forward to most about serving on the Board? Connectedness is deeply important to me. I want to work with people, be in conversation with them, and come up with exciting ideas and thoughts to be shared. I think that the board has the opportunity to take a leadership role in demonstrating what is meant by being a DEI organization committed to human belongingness. The organization has the potential to be an incubator for needed solutions that will help the network. Ultimately, I look forward to being a board of entrepreneurs, and you can count on me to advocate for that paradigm as key to United Way NEXT’s success formula. *What would you like to share that UW NEXT members may not already know about you? That’s a tough question to answer when you’ve been around for as many years as I have; and I also have a spouse who shares a common circle of professional United Way colleagues. The less visible sides of my life that some may not be aware of would be my involvement in helping deliver education for the Archdiocese of Seattle, my level of activism to advance all LGBTQ+ people, my stamp collections representing my travels from around the world, and how my kitchen and BBQ are prized sanctuaries for both creativity and escape. |
United Way NEXT’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
United Way NEXT harnesses the passion and experience of current and former United Way professionals for the betterment of each other, the United Way network, and our communities. In achieving this purpose, we aim to create member experiences that enhance a sense of value and belonging by:
Board approved – 9/11/2023 |