Bold Moves E-Newsletter, Winter 2020

 
At a recent Business Council meeting I had the privilege to hear Daniel Wolcott, President and CEO of Lodi-Adventist Health and Christina Bastida, Executive Director of HealthForce partners enthusiastically talk about....linkages, civic coupling and workforce training partnerships and how when education, business and government work together very cool things happen that stimulates societal changes and earth moving changes which helps all parties involved. 
 
During that meeting, Daniel was not talking about his profession in the traditional sense, he was talking about how a community can collectively train people for well-paying jobs, advancing educational and vocational training and securing an economic future for both individuals and our cities. He and Christina's message was a positive innovative disruptor and a signal that we need to do more of what HealthForce Partners is doing--working together!
 
This is a great time for business and the nonprofit world to expand the universe in novel and sustainable ways from helping on major fronts such as child development, to climate change to policies that sustain the future of the next generation. United way of San Joaquin County is the fiscal sponsor of HealthForce partners and we are in a place in time to help advance this organization by serving as it's 501C3 entity, manage payroll, back office operations and to be its most prolific crusader.
 
Formulating successful bonds between the business of healthcare, higher education and government, while not new, is one that is reshaping the role of business in addressing societies most pressing issues.
 
In a recent Forbes article on corporate responsibility, Susan McPherson emphasized that this is a time for increased urgency and deep collaboration for systemic change between agencies. Adding, business needs to address the deep discomfort many of our fellow citizens have about how the market economy works, job training, and early childhood education--because downstream business suffers if these social disparities are not addressed. 
 
Business leaders also need to raise their voice to ensure that we preserve open societies, create support systems for our nonprofits, and insert a deep respect and culture for diversity. "My hope is that business will rise to the occasion ", stated the Forbes article.
 
UWSJC BOLD MOVES focus in 2019, and now deeply embedded in our 2020 strategic plan is all about strong strategic relationships with business. Business support is what has historically always been the secret sauce of United Way's across the country.
 
That secret sauce is getting a slight change to its traditional recipe here in San Joaquin County, as we are working to realign and reinvest in our relationships with business leaders. Last week, we were working with a great team at Costco where there was 100% participation in donating to nonprofits by their impressive fleet department--Truckers Live United. The next day, we traveled to the magical Port of Stockton where a full house of support staff, maintenance workers and the CEO himself, Rick Aschieris gathered for their annual workplace campaign. Mr. Aschieris encouraged everyone to join the KEEL Club, offering a day off with pay incentive for those who contributed on that day. Lastly, Both the Bank of Stockton and Farmers and Merchants Bank continued their support of United Way with their workplace campaigns, providing much needed resources to our local nonprofits.
 
We have tremendous human capital in San Joaquin County in diagnosing problems, seeding ideas and looking for thoughtful resolution to our longest standing societal problems like homelessness, mental health services, or early childhood education. Business goes well beyond HR and is aggressively reframing how existing challenges are faced with new partners beyond the walls of their core businesses.

 

We are so proud of those business leaders, like Daniel Wolcott and Christina Bastida, and their Board of Health Care leaders they work with. They have opted to see nonprofit support as a business imperative, as being not just the right thing to do, but as a "move from rhetoric and awareness to action and solutions," as Susan studies.
 
We here at United Way are proud to be a small part of the solution that will build talent for our future workforce via HealthForce Partners and are proud of all businesses and those leaders who wake up each day asking...how can I change the world.
 
Click Here to read more about the importance of corporate responsibility and it's impact on our future.
 
 
Kristen Birtwhistle
President/CEO United Way of San Joaquin County
 
 
 
Read more from the Bold Moves, Winter 2020 Newsletter here: