UWKY News & Notes - May 3, 2011

United Way of Greater Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky develops "Bold Goals" for their community, asks region to unite

A QUICK SURVEY: Imagine the year 2020 - which of the following scenarios do you think will come true?

Pollution-free flying cars that run on compressed air
Computer uploads directly to your brain
The Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region will be one of the most vibrant communities in the nation, in terms of education, income and health

If you picked #3, you are in good company! United Way of Greater Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky (UWGC) believes that by the beginning of the next decade, their community will come together to make significant progress on six "Bold Goals" laid out last month. The goals state that:

At least 85 percent of children will be prepared for kindergarten
At least 85 percent of youth will graduate from high school (prepared for life, college and career)
At least 45 percent of adults will have an Associate's degree or higher
At least 90 percent of the labor force will be gainfully employed
At least 70 percent of the community will report having excellent or very good health
At least 95 percent of the community will report having a usual place to go for medical care

Rob Reifsnyder, UWGC President, believes the effort is "aspirational, but potentially achievable if we work together." Working together isn't new for this community. In 2009, UWGC updated its Agenda for Community Impact, a single document that governs all the strategic work of the organization. The Agenda provides the foundation for the "Bold Goals", and has helped drive new vision across the region. Since UWGC published the work in 2005, other civic and collaborative organizations such as Agenda 360, Vision 2015 and The Strive Partnership, have also developed major strategic agendas. United Way is a part of all of those efforts.

"What became clear as we started to come together is that we were each adopting longer-term goals but we weren't necessarily aligned in key areas. We asked a variety of partners to see if we could get alignment at least around the areas of United Way's work and develop some common measures of progress over a 10-year span," said Reifsnyder. "As a result of that work, we have come to agreement on some top-line goals and are working on baselines and outcomes along the way."

Over 40 organizations and entities developed the goals over the last nine months. 19 organizations have already endorsed the work, with numerous others preparing to follow suit. For a full list of the community partners, or for more information on how you can get involved in the "Bold Goals" effort, visit UWGC's web portal.