Lauren Segal, president and CEO of Greater Twin Cities United Way, is leaving us at the end of this month for greener pastures. She kindly agreed to answer a few questions as she’s wrapping things up:

• What are you most proud of having accomplished while you were at United Way?

Lauren: There are two things that come to mind. The first is the combination of the Minneapolis and St. Paul United Ways in 2001.  No one expected it, no one thought it would happen or could happen—and we did it!  It was great fun to build a whole new organization.

The second accomplishment, without a doubt, is the development of the Agenda for Lasting Change and our focus on people at or near the poverty line.  The focus on issues that people hear and know about, and showing measurable impact on a community scale, is incredibly rewarding.

•  What will you miss most about your job?  

Lauren: The opportunity to work with the dedicated staff and volunteers to build pathways out of poverty.

•  What will you miss the least?

Lauren: This position required me to be in many different places, often at the same time!  It was not unusual for me to start my day at 7:30 a.m., and, because of community events, be out until 9:00 or 10:00 at night.  Not to mention emails, reading, etc. relegated to the weekends.  I am looking forward to spending more quality time with my husband.

•  What is/was your favorite moment at United Way?

Lauren: There were too many to name just one!  Most of them were times when I had the opportunity to work with volunteers packing food at food shelves, building a Habitat house with the future residents, or reading to children, or to witness the success of a program or initiative we had started. 

•  What was your funniest moment at United Way?

Lauren: Let’s see—it’s between wearing pajamas and singing “I’m a Little Teapot” with the senior leadership team for the internal campaign, or dancing the evening—and early morning hours—away at our staff holiday party. 

• What are you most looking forward to in the next phase of your life?

Lauren: Climbing a new mountain—finding new ways to help volunteers, staff, and organizations transform themselves to meet future challenges.  And as I said before, having a little more balance in my life, so I can spend time with my husband, Rich, take up a hobby, spend time with friends, and volunteer.

Thank you Lauren, for your many years of service and dedication to United Way. We will miss you!

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 10:09 am and is filed under Agenda for Lasting Change, Community, Philanthropy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.