United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut
LIVE UNITED
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households struggle to afford basic necessities, including food, childcare, transportation, healthcare and housing, despite being employed and working hard. In our region, one in three families are considered ALICE households, living above the poverty line but unable to make ends meet. ALICE individuals and families reside in every town in our state. United Way is a champion for ALICE families and contributions to United Way will help prepare children for academic success, connect people with good jobs and provide immediate emergency assistance to families in need.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Youth Success
Children are ready for school and stay on track, graduating on time prepared for college or career.
Family Financial Security
People learn financial skills and qualify for good-paying jobs with opportunities for advancement.
Access to Health
Promote access to quality health care and wellness opportunities for children and families.
Basic Needs
People who are going through tough times get the assistance they need, such as food and shelter.
United for Racial Equity
Reduce racial disparities in educational, economic, and health outcomes for people in central and northeastern Connecticut.
COVID-19 Recovery
Help families recover from the long-term economic and educational impacts of COVID-19.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children in quality early childhood education programs who gained skills needed to succeed in kindergarten, such as language and literacy skills.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Access to Health
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Children graduate high school college and career ready. Objective: Students enter the fourth grade reading proficiently.
Number of youth who improved their academic performance related to grade-level standards.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Access to Health
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Children graduate high school college and career ready. Objective: Students enter the fourth grade reading proficiently.
Number of middle grade students acquired the academic skills needed for high school success.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Access to Health
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Children graduate high school college and career ready. Objective: Students enter the fourth grade reading proficiently.
Number of individuals who improved their education and employment potential.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Success
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Families are financially secure. Objective: Adults obtain and retain jobs that offer family sustaining wages and career advancement.
Number of individuals who attained industry-specific credentials or certifications.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Success
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Families are financially secure. Objective: Adults obtain and retain jobs that offer family sustaining wages and career advancement.
Number of people in job training programs secured employment.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Success
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Families are financially secure. Objective: Adults obtain and retain jobs that offer family sustaining wages and career advancement.
Number of individuals who increased their disposable income by accessing benefits.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Youth Success
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Families are financially secure. Objective: Individuals and families increase their financial capability to achieve short- and long-term goals.
Number of people who were connected to emergency resources such as rent/utility assistance, medical equipment, clothing or transportation assistance to better make ends meet.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Family Financial Security
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Basic Needs are met.
Number of people who received emergency shelter.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Family Financial Security
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Basic Needs are met.
Number of people who found safety/services related to sexual assault or domestic violence.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Family Financial Security
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Goal: Basic Needs are met.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is taking on some of the biggest challenges of our region: ensuring that children graduate high school, college and career ready; ensuring that families become more financially secure; connecting families with health services, supporting healthier beginnings and healthier lives; and providing people with food, shelter, and other essential services and resources. Each area presents an opportunity for philanthropic investment that will produce a significant social return.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Utilizing innovative approaches and the latest research, we find the best ways to bring people together to solve the issues that matter most. By spearheading new community change models and leveraging funding from public and private sources, we have achieved positive outcomes in our community. United Way supports the work of more than 50 innovative partner organizations, and serves as a leader and/or member of several community initiatives throughout our region that focus on early literacy, middle grade success, family financial stability, and health.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We believe that not one organization alone can solve the complex challenges facing children and families in our region. As such, we strive to bring together the right mix of partners and resources to tackle these issues. United Way is uniquely positioned to mobilize community members to give, advocate and volunteer on behalf of the causes they care about. We are able to bring together the human and financial resources needed to work together on challenges unique to our local communities. The foundation of our funding strategy is ongoing research of best practices and a volunteer-driven process for vetting partner organizations. We also seek to develop organizations' capacity to deliver the effective services, and to align organizations and resources to achieve positive community results at a broad scale.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Last year, we invested $6.4 million in programs/initiatives that benefitted over 260,000 residents.
Children accessed high quality early learning programs, including early language and literacy supports, as well as in-school and out-of-school time supports, and summer learning opportunities that improved reading and academic skills. Individuals received employment services, financial coaching, and connection to benefits. Services included: financial coaching, benefits screening, credit counseling, employment/career development, tax preparation, matched savings accounts, and resource and referral. Families accessed immediate, emergency assistance including (as examples): information and referrals through 2-1-1 and emergency resources such as rent, utility and transportation assistance.
In addition, we act as both a leader and partner in several initiatives in Hartford, including: Hartford Campaign for Grade Level Reading – a cross-sector partnership to ensure children are reading on grade level by the end of third grade; Hartford Generation Work, bridging workforce systems to benefit young adults ages 18-29, and developing professional capacity of workforce development leaders; Hartford Working Cities Challenge, connecting and preparing young adults in the South End of Hartford to local anchor institution employers; and North Hartford Triple Aim Collaborative – the health and wellbeing work group for the North Hartford Promise Zone.
United Way also mobilized nearly 6,000 volunteers around (as examples): Literacy Kit projects – building children's libraries at home/classroom; United Way Readers – matching volunteer readers with students behind in reading; one-time read aloud activities; and VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) – providing free tax preparation services by IRS certified volunteers.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut
Board of directorsas of 11/4/2021
Donald Allan, Jr.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
Vittoria Pace
The Hartford
Michael Auseré
Eversource
Steven Casey
Eversource
Peter Collins
Travelers
Mario Conjura
Chair, Windham Region United Way Advisory Board People's United Bank
Eric Daniels
Robinson+Cole
Shellye Davis
Greater Hartford Labor Coalition AFL-CIO
William Dowling
Chair, United Way of New Britain and Berlin Regional Advisory Board Wachtel Missry LLP
Pail Duff
Collins Aerospace and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 743
Venton Forbes
FaithCare, Inc.
Eric Galvin
Chair, 2019 United Way Community Campaign ConnectiCare
Greg Toczydlowski
Travelers
Paula Gilberto
President and Secretary, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut
Courtney Jinjika
KeyBank
Robert Kosior
ConnectiCare, Inc. & Affiliates
Shawn Maynard
Windham Hospital Foundation
Colleen McGuire
Silver Fern Healthcare LLC
Natalie Morris
United Technologies Corporation
James O'Meara
Ex Officio, Former Board Chair Webster Bank
Vittoria Pace
The Hartford
Roshan Patel
Bank of America
Susan Tully
NBCUniversal, WVIT
Cynthia Ryan
Cigna
Vi Smalley, Esq.
Conning
Donna Sodipo
YWCA Hartford Region
Richard Tavolieri
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Anden Utzinger
Grant Thornton LLP
Maureen Waterston
Pratt & Whitney
Jaime Young
Aetna, a CVS Health Company
Anden Utzinger
Grant Thornton LLP
Lyn Walker
Shipman & Goodman LLP
Peter Collins
Travelers
Susan Tully
NBCUniversal, WVIT
Anden Utzinger
Grant Thornton LLP
Lyn Walker
Shipman & Goodman LLP
Peter Collins
Travelers
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/04/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.