Our kickoff was last week at a high-energy event with our campaign co-chairs, Northern Arizona University President Dr. José Luis Cruz Rivera and Dr. Rima Brusi, a professor at the university’s Honor College.

Below you’ll find details about the event, including the outstanding work of our Pacesetters in jump starting this year’s campaign. Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope you will join us in “Leading the Way” by supporting UWNA.

From the desk of: Liz Archuleta President & CEO

United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) officially launched its 1.2 million annual campaign last Friday at the High Country Conference Center. Funding from this year’s campaign will be used to promote several initiatives based at UWNA and almost 40 partner programs that work to ensure that youth and families in northern Arizona thrive.

“I’m very excited and energized about the theme of this year’s campaign – Leading the Way – because it reflects United Way of Northern Arizona’s innovative spirit,” said UWNA President & CEO Liz Archuleta. “It’s about how we bring together our community and boldly pursue opportunities for improving lives in our region with courage, intention, and creativity.”

During the event, Northern Arizona University President José Luis Cruz Rivera – who is co-chairing this year’s campaign with his wife, Dr. Rima Brusi – announced a further expansion of benefits for graduates of the popular KinderCamp™ program, a signature early childhood education initiative developed by UWNA and implemented in partnership with local school districts.

“United Way of Northern Arizona’s campaign is emblematic of one of NAU’s key strategic priorities, which is to ensure we are providing beneficial economic and social benefits to the communities we serve,” said President Cruz Rivera. “That starts with stepping up for our youth so that they can achieve their dreams and aspirations.”

During the breakfast, January Contreras, President and CEO of the Arizona Children’s Action Alliance, shared data from an upcoming report on the status of children in Coconino County and the challenges facing the region in areas such as childcare, economic security, and healthcare.

UWNA is in a unique position to help address those challenges by bringing the community together to “step up for our youth,” knowing that when we invest in their future, we are also guaranteeing a better future for our region as a whole.

Join us in leading the way with your donation today.

During our campaign kickoff breakfast, we honored the absolutely amazing companies and organizations that served as this year’s Pacesetters. These are workplaces that hold their UWNA fundraising events just ahead of the formal campaign to help jump start our annual effort.

This year our six Pacesetters helped almost 13% of our campaign goal with more than $150,000 in donations!

Each of these workplaces was presented with an award shaped like a rocket to show how important they were to the launch of this journey.

Many thanks to all of them for leading the way in this year’s campaign:

• APS ($30,460)
• Coconino County ($15,278)
• Joy Baking Group ($11,497)
• Kinney Construction Services ($30,789)
• Lowell Observatory ($17,163)
• Nestle Purina Petcare ($46,032)

If your business or organization would like to host a workplace campaign, please contact Christine Pierce, Campaign and Operations Manager, via emailor by calling 928.773.9813.