United Way of Lane County’s New CEO Hits the Ground Running
Noreen Dunnells, the new CEO of United Way of Lane County, arrived In Oregon on Tuesday, the 25th of January. On Wednesday, her first day, she met with her staff and joined members of the United Way Board of Directors at the Eugene Chamber of Commerce’s event, where board chair Gerry Gaydos was honored as First Citizen. On Thursday, there were meetings, then lunch with the directors of youth-‐serving agencies in Eugene and Springfield, then more meetings before she attended Governor Kitzhaber’s town hall meeting on Education at Lane Community College. On Friday, an interview, a conference call and more meetings. She hadn’t even unpacked yet.
“This has been a great transition to Lane County,” Dunnells says. “I’m meeting a lot of committed people—it feels like a family. There is a lot of passion in this community.”
Her job, she says, is most importantly about the people of Lane County and “finding the right strategies, multiple strategies to help people. How do we take the investments that people have made in United Way and to improve people’s lives and community conditions?
“I’m thrilled to be here and ready to roll up my sleeves and get down to it. For the next few months I’ll be doing a lot of listening and understanding, meeting with agency heads and members of the community.”
Dunnells has 26 years of experience with United Way, most recently as president and CEO of United Way of Central Minnesota, a position she held for 13 years. She was hired in December following a nationwide search and succeeds Priscilla Gould, who served as executive director for 22 years.
“I am delighted with the skills, vision, experience, heart, and energy that Noreen is bringing to our community,” Gould says. “And she has already fallen in love with us because of the warm welcome many have extended. How cool is that! I couldn’t be happier with the results of the search committee’s hard work.”
Gould will remain in an advisory role until the end of February. “It’s a unique opportunity to learn from your predecessor,” Dunnells says. “I can’t imagine a better transitional partner. Priscilla is graceful, gentle, and has a kind spirit, and she obviously cares about this community—and that’s the number-‐one requirement for this job.“
Dunnells’ immediate goals are to meet with agency leaders and identify gaps in Lane County services. She’ll also be focused on United Way’s mobilization agenda in the areas of Education, Income, and Health— as well as strengthening the agency’s resources.
“It’s not just about raising funds,” she says. “How do we engage people in the community?” Finally, she says she plans to focus on developing a system of measurements and ways to measure progress.
The Central Minnesota United Way is similar in size to Lane County’s. It raised $3.5 million in the 2010-‐11 fiscal year and, like United Way of Lane County, recently changed its funding model to focus on the strategic areas of Education, Income and Health while meeting people’s basic needs.
As CEO, Dunnells reports to United Way of Lane County’s 38-‐member Board of Directors and is responsible to lead, manage, and administer all aspects of the organization. Gerry Gaydos was named president of the United Way board this past fall and served on the search committee, says he’s “excited” to work with Dunnells.
“Noreen’s energy and commitment to United Way and its impact work will be felt immediately as she works with the existing outstanding staff at United Way,” Gaydos says. “ We will create opportunities for her to get to know the community and for the community to get to know her. Her energy and expertise will be felt in United Way’s 100% access program for health care, promise neighborhoods in the education arena and the mobilization work involved with the income impact area.”
During her 26 years with United Way, Dunnells led annual fund development effort of $8 million in Southeastern Connecticut and a fund distribution process of $15 million in Nashville as well as led the organization’s AIDS Initiative. As past president of United Ways of Minnesota, Dunnells served as a member of the Governor’s Workforce Development Council in Minnesota from 2004-‐2006, and served three terms with the Stearns-‐Benton Workforce Council there. She has served on the Board of CNESI (Center for Non-‐Profit Excellence & Social Innovation) and has been a Rotary Club member for 17 years.
She received her M.S. degree in Management from Antioch University/New England site in Keene, New Hampshire in 1988.
Originally from New England, Dunnells and her husband, Jeff, enjoy the outdoors and have traveled extensively in Oregon. Together the couple has four children, all in their 20s.
United Way of Lane County raised $3.7 Million in the 2010-‐11 fiscal year. Funding goes to a countywide network of 61 human service programs and services who work collaboratively with United Way to meet people’s basic needs and to help advance the common good for all through strategic initiatives in EDUCATION, INCOME and HEALTH.