(2014) – Orange County United Way has selected Michelle Whiting & Associates to conduct their search for a Vice President of Investor Relations. Orange County United Way (OCUW) is a 90-year old organization with powerful brand influence. They focus on issue-specific priorities to drive change in a diverse community comprised of 34 cities and 28 school districts. In the most recent fiscal year, OCUW...

ORANGE COUNTY UNITED WAY MISSION & ORGANIZATION (2014) – Orange County United Way (OCUW) mission is to “improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of Orange County to strengthen our community.” OCUW engages individual donors and local corporations to support the education, income/financial stability, health and housing needs of Orange County’s most vulnerable populations. Over the next ten years, Orange County United Way...
(2014) – Collaboration, Strategic Partnerships, Collective Impact…One funder I know jokingly says that she ‘fines’ people who use the latter term in her presence. Why? This jargon is overused, misused, and often sometimes works better in theory than in practice. Too often nonprofits seek partnerships with other mission- like organizations, where different philosophies–and competition for donors–mire progress. But we are seeing great success with...

MW&A recently completed two executive searches for state-wide educational non-profit THINK Together. While many highly qualified candidates were considered for two posts, Tonia Collinske joined the team as Grants Administrator in January, and Susan Williamson (pictured) came on board in December as the Director of Development. Here’s what Susan says about her experience in the process: What a pleasure to work with Michelle Whiting,...

Chicago-born Common Threads launched just over a decade ago as the brainchild of celebrity chef Art Smith. He wanted to teach low-income kids how to cook and eat nutritiously. He’s done a delicious job of it, and the successes mean a continuous expansion of the work. Here’s how they’ve done it. Under the guidance of Founding CEO, Linda Novick O’Keefe, Common Threads began growing...