United Way of Northern Arizona update for April 12 — Q&A with Carol Dykes

by Community Contributor • April 12, 2019 • Comments Off

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Q&A with Carol Dykes

Carol Dykes is a 20-year veteran of United Way of Northern Arizona and has served as Vice President of the organization for several years. Last month, with the departure of Steve Peru, who has been named chief development and government relations officer at Coconino Community College, Carol took on the role of Interim President & CEO.

Two decades with the same organization is quite a commitment. What’s kept you at UWNA so long? For me, it’s all about the personal relationships. I’ve been able to build wonderful relationships with staff, volunteers, Board members, agency leaders and company campaign coordinators. In fact, my husband and I originally met through doing United Way work!

The work we do is fun and pulls us together as a community. I’ve been doubly blessed; first, to be able to call Flagstaff my home and second, to be able to engage with others to help make Flagstaff an even better place. Our staff is talented, hard-working and second to none in terms of their commitment and dedication. They help me find purpose and joy in my everyday work. Not too many jobs offer those kinds of benefits!

Why do you think UWNA is so important? We work together with our diverse partners to build stronger communities. We operate with a carefully thought-out vision and values and employ best-practice community building principles, all of which focus our efforts towards the greatest impact. The community looks to us and trusts us to take a leadership role in bringing together the right players, starting the right conversations and stimulating the right solutions.

What programs hold a special place in your heart and why? All our programs are special to me – they’re like children and grandchildren that way. All of our agency and initiative partners do wonderful work. While I don’t have a particular favorite program, I am drawn to programs that in any way serve our vulnerable youth and adolescents. We simply cannot do enough to meet their needs.

What have been the big changes at UWNA in the 20 years you’ve been there? Well, we have certainly grown tremendously in our financial footprint and our overall impact within the communities we serve. That is largely attributable to our loyal donors and volunteers who see real value in the work we do. We try to be very straightforward and intentional with our donors and supporters. Also, our shift from a business-to-business model to a relationship and community building model has been huge, as have changes in technology.

What’s next for UWNA? Establishing new and ever-ambitious goals and setting focused priorities that build on our assets, strengths and legacy. You will see UWNA begin to take measured risks and assume an even greater leadership role to address our community’s greatest needs and challenges. Doing things the way they’ve always been done just won’t cut it anymore as our challenges and solutions become ever more complex. Growing and evolving will be part of who we are. I am as excited about our future as I have ever been and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

United Way of Northern Arizona

1515 E. Cedar Ave. | Suite D-1 | Flagstaff, AZ 86004

928-773-9813 nazunitedway.org