Sadé

Sadé completed United Way of the Wabash Valley’s inaugural African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI) and soon after joined her first board with Junior Achievement of the Wabash Valley. Sadé also volunteers regularly with United Way and the rest of her community. Below is a statement from Sadé about her experience with AABLI and how it brought her to become a board member with Junior Achievement.

“My time in AABLI was truly impactful. I was blessed to be a part of the inaugural cohort and create memories with a fantastic group of leaders. The program was an intentional mixture of discussions, strength identification, enhanced problem-solving skills, and exploration to ‘finding our why’, AABLI prepared and empowered me to push forward in leadership. Great care was taken to obtain information on each cohort member’s interests to serve. Utilizing those interests, introductions were established to connect cohort members with local organizations. 

I was connected to Junior Achievement in the Wabash Valley. I had a wonderful experience meeting and connecting with their leadership team. I feel exceptionally blessed to now serve as a board member for JA! The culmination of this opportunity would not have been possible without the AABLI program. The program undoubtedly created a pathway of visibility for African-American leaders to become board members. I thank United Way of the Wabash Valley for seeing a need in our community and actively working to create opportunities. I look forward to seeing the continued growth of AABLI!”

Becky

Becky and her husband used the SmartDollar financial literacy course provided at Child-Adult Resource Services (CARS) and funded by United Way. They paid off their car, two credit cards, and saved over $3,000!

The UWWV Financial Management Impact Council funded two programs over the last year that focused on expanding financial literacy training, coaching and/or mentoring in the Wabash Valley by working with employers and other partner organizations to deliver convenient and incentivized financial literacy training to employees. This initiative expanded participants’ ability to understand and properly apply financial management skills to their everyday lives. The first program was administered by Child-Adult Resource Services (CARS) to their own employees. Their program was online-based and titled SmartDollar. Over the course of the program, participants started emergency funds, paid off debt, started savings accounts, and worked on goals for retirement and their child’s college funds.