Paula Williams, executive director of the Centre County United Way, embraces the approach that challenges present opportunities.
With a year of challenging firsts behind her—including rappelling 110 feet down the side of Beaver Stadium as part of the Over the Edge fundraiser and helping bring together more than 2,000 volunteers for the Day of Caring—Williams this month begins her second year at the helm. She’s excited for CCUW to make an even bigger difference in the community.
“I like to talk about challenges and opportunities,” she says. “And I think that one of the opportunities is to bring new donors into the organization. So, we’re looking at how do we bring in younger donors and how do we create sustained giving? And how do we make it easier for folks to support our work? And with our partner agencies that have programming, how do we support that more?”
In a career that has taken her as far as New Mexico—where she was a leader with Habitat for Humanity, Komen for the Cure, and Ronald McDonald House Charities—Williams is back in the place where the journey began, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Penn State.
But that degree is not her only special Happy Valley connection.
“My husband, Dave, and I met here,” she says. “We were both students. We’ve lived in Maryland, New Mexico, Georgia, but we had the opportunity to come back here and we couldn’t pass it up. We’re just very excited to be part of the community again.”
Here’s more from our conversation:
How did you go about connecting with the community in your first year?
Williams: I’ve been really fortunate that folks have been inviting me to key events and meetings. I’ve just been out and about as much as I possibly can be. It’s that opportunity to connect with people one-on-one, have conversations, meet, and then follow up and see what we can do [this] year.
One of the things that was really humbling for me is how the community has been so gracious and welcoming and has made it really easy to partner and to work with folks. And I am so grateful for that as an alumna. Back in the day, I was on the gown side, and now to be on the town side, but to still be so closely connected with Penn State, that really makes a big difference. Penn State staff, faculty, and retirees have provided a significant portion of our total funds raised through fundraising events, campaign donations, and sustained giving contributions.
You’re the fourth executive director in the last five years. Has that presented any challenges?
Williams: Anytime we have change, there are challenges. But I think it’s also presented exciting opportunities for growth. Leanne [Lenz], who was the previous executive director, is still in town. Wendy [Vinhage] is no longer in town; she moved out of state for another job opportunity. And Tammy [Gentzel, who served in the post for nine years] is actually volunteering with us now and doing some contract work with us. So, I think that it creates an opportunity to expand connections.
I do think some folks were a little concerned that I might not be here too long. But Dave and I just bought a house. We plan to be here. We are enjoying the community.
Has it been what you expected?
Williams: Oh, more than [expected]. The job presents challenges just because we have so much work to do and so many folks that we want to help, but they are challenges we can face. We’ve got a great staff. We’ve got great volunteers, great community members, great board members, donors that are stepping up and supporting the work that we’re doing.
Any surprises?
Williams: One of the things that I didn’t realize is that 31 percent of the folks living in Centre County are what we call our ALICE community. And that’s asset-limited, income-constrained, employed. And for those folks, they’re basically one main event away from really struggling. That number was higher than I anticipated. That’s part of the reason why our work is so important; we’re working to fund projects with our partner agencies that directly help those folks.
We have a lot of work to do, but we’re so fortunate to have so many nonprofits in this area that work really hard to take care of folks and to provide a safety net. We’re a convener. Our idea is: How do we pull people into the room to work together and solve problems? And that’s what I’m really excited about starting the second year.
There are an extraordinary number of charitable organizations here. I know they work together in some ways, but in some ways they’re competing for the same limited resources. How do you navigate that?
Williams: We work with 25 partner agencies, and those are the agencies that are eligible for funding from us. I think recognizing the need in the community, there’s room for many organizations to partner and work together. We’re looking at partners that are doing things that directly help folks day-to-day.
There is a perception that there are only so many dollars and, while that is true, there’s also an incredibly generous spirit of giving in this community. And there are folks that step up every time we ask. I think we need to be really clear in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Because I think we’ve got very, very savvy donors. And they want to know how we’re using their dollars. It’s important that we’re being very transparent and very clear.
When you talk about that 31 percent in the ALICE population, that group really does need our support. There are folks we come in contact with every day, folks that are working in all different kinds of positions, that just need some extra support. And then there’s an additional 15 percent that are living below the federal poverty line. That’s a large segment of our population that we really want to help. The generosity of the donors in Centre County is amazing. We are incredibly fortunate.
Nationwide, charitable organizations have recently had more difficulty raising funds than in years past. [Giving was down nationally in 2022.] Is United Way part of that trend?
Williams: The numbers have trended downward. But we’re looking to reverse that so that we have an upward trend again because there’s need in the community. [It’s about] recognizing the obstacles and figuring out ways to overcome them. That’s the exciting part. We have so many key volunteers and they are making a difference. And then we have our donors coming in saying, “What can we do to help? What do you need?”
[The Centre County United Way’s most recent annual campaign wrapped up in January. As of mid-December, numbers were “trending above where we were” in 2022, but final figures were still to be determined, Williams said at the time. That 2022 campaign distributed $1 million among 24 partner agencies.]
Are there any changes planned as you enter your second year in the position?
Williams: With the help of McQuaide Blasko, we are launching Imagination Library, which is the Dolly Parton program; it’s part of her foundation. People have an opportunity to sign up and receive a free book a month for children from birth till they start kindergarten. It’s really exciting because it helps with our education component. It gives kids the chance to get brand-new books every month.
There’s going to be an opportunity for the community to get involved because the way it works—and these numbers may shift—it’s basically about 26 dollars a child to get a book a month for a year. McQuaide Blasko gave us the first gift to get a start on that, but we will then have opportunities for individuals to sign up to sponsor one kid, or sponsor 10 kids. We’ll probably start with about 400 to 500 children that we’re providing the books for; we hope to watch that grow.
And then we’ll see what else comes along. We’ll have some exciting things that we’re launching and announcing.
What’s been the most satisfying part of the job so far?
Williams: We know we’re making a difference in Centre County. Every day when you’re getting up thinking, “OK, we need to go meet with donors, we need to go attend an event, speak at the event”—all of that, if you know you’re making a difference, it makes it easier. And we need to continue to do that. T&G
Mark Brackenbury is a former editor of Town&Gown.
