Newsroom

Our New Strategic Framework: Advocacy and its profound community impact

United Way for Greater Austin advances our mission — bringing our community together to break economic barriers and build opportunity for all — using four strategies. One of those is advocacy. United Way envisions a Central Texas where everyone has an opportunity to thrive. And 2024 marks an important milestone for us: 100 years serving the community! As we reflect on a century of change and a legacy of impact, our new strategic plan lays a strong foundation for our next 100 years. Our new strategic plan galvanizes our promise to realize a future where every child is set up for success with high-quality early care and education – in a community where everyone is connected to the essential resources they need, when they need them. Through this plan, four key strategies emerged. One of them is advocacy. Together with our coalition partners, United Way coordinates efforts to influence public policy at the district, city, county, and state level. We leverage the voices of our community to drive lasting change that will lay the foundation for 100 more years of impact. One example of our advocacy culminated in a meaningful win for local child care centers in November 2023. The Austin/Travis County Success By 6 Coalition and Early Matters Greater Austin, both convened by United Way, worked in coordination with service providers and business leaders to advocate in support of Proposition (Prop) 2, a measure that would provide a property tax waiver for child care centers who serve a certain […]

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Early Matters Greater Austin advocacy win: Paid parental leave in Travis County

On May 3, the Travis County Commissioners Court unanimously voted to offer Travis County employees eight weeks of paid parental leave! The resolution was sponsored by Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Precinct 1 Travis County Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion, and advocated for by the Early Matters Greater Austin Steering Committee.  Powered by United Way for Greater Austin and E3 Alliance, Early Matters Greater Austin (EMGA) is an alliance of current and retired business professionals focused on the critical relationship between access to high-quality early education and our State’s long-term economic success. A significant aspect of the group’s work — known as Best Place for Working Parents® — is advocating for family-friendly workplace practices that are research proven to benefit families and have a positive impact on a businesses’ profitability. The EMGA Steering Committee’s advocacy for Travis County expanding family-friendly policies for their 5,000+ employees, is an example of that work.  After the unanimous vote to implement paid parental leave, EMGA Steering Committee member Tom Hedrick spoke about the positive impact family-friendly policies have on families, businesses, and our larger economy.  Travis County is proving family-friendly is business-friendly  While family-friendly policies have a direct impact on working parents, local and national research proves that there is also a serious business case to being family-friendly: 83% of millennials would leave one job for another with stronger family-friendly supports Replacing an employee costs an employer six to nine months of that employee’s salary Over 60% of working parents said child care issues have […]

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Honor Dr. MLK Jr.’s life and legacy with us

Join us Monday, January 17 as we continue our annual tradition of gathering with our neighbors in service and learning to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King believed in the power of individuals to strengthen communities and achieve common goals, and all of us here at United Way do too. That’s what our mission – bringing people, ideas, and resources together to fight poverty in our community – is all about.  For our 2022 MLK Jr. Day of Service, we invite you to join us for one or several socially-distanced activities, all of which carry on Dr. King’s legacy of anti-racism, justice, and equity.   Learn: Take our self-guided walking tour. Walk through part of the area of Austin that was originally created to segregate Black Austinites in 1928, and reflect on how walking played a critical role in the Civil Rights Era.   Give: Donate books to the “I Am Brave” book drive. We’re partnering with Brave Communities to provide reading material to young people from  vaccine-hesitant populations, and bring awareness of the importance of diverse representation and storytelling in books.   Advocate: Advocacy is volunteerism, and we encourage you to use your voice to enact change in 2022. The Texas Primary Election is March 1. Voter education impacts voter turnout, so take some time today to make sure that you and your loved ones are registered to vote.   Volunteer: Get outside this MLK Jr. Day with the Austin Parks Foundation. Check out […]

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$13.5 Million (Yes, Million) invested in Greater Austin Children and Families: Big Wins from the American Rescue Plan

Here at United Way for Greater Austin, we’re on a mission to bring people, ideas, and resources together to fight poverty in our community. United with community leaders and partners, we’re leading the charge to create sustainable and lasting solutions to break the cycle of poverty.  Advocacy is critical, not just to further the impact of United Way’s work, but to create lasting systemic change. It takes all of us — using our collective voice — to advocate for a Greater Austin that works for everyone. This is why we are so excited to share and celebrate with you a few major funding wins from the American Rescue Plan.  What is the American Rescue Plan?  The American Rescue Plan (ARPA) is a $1.5 trillion federal economic package designed to address the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding is being allocated to cities, counties, and states to directly support their recovery efforts. The City of Austin received $195.8. million in funding, and Travis County received $247.1 million.  A collective investment of $13.5 million, from the City of Austin ($11MM) and Travis County ($2.5MM), will be made to specifically strengthen our local education, health, and workforce systems. These funding decisions were driven by testimony and recommendations put forth by United Way and you, our supporters and coalition partners. Thank you! This significant one-time investment of federal dollars will not only drive Greater Austin’s post COVID-19 economic recovery, but help address some of the root causes of poverty in our community. […]

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Uniquely Austin: The Early Childhood Council is helping all children in Austin thrive.

We all know Austin is unique for so many reasons, but did you know about our unique approach to early childhood investments? Our city has a formal body that advises City Council on early childhood issues and initiatives, dating back to 1985! Today this body is known as the Early Childhood Council (ECC), and is made up of 13 stakeholders from different sectors, who come together with recommendations on how our City Council should budget, spend, and address all matters that help ensure that our kids happy, healthy, and ready to succeed in school and beyond.  The Early Childhood Council is a very important part of our early care and education ecosystem, and their work promotes our Success By 6 Coalition efforts, helping us reach the goals of our strategic plan. We are grateful for the work they do, and we want everyone in Austin to celebrate them! Hear from a Success By 6 Coalition Leadership Team member and ECC member, Dr. Aletha C. Huston, on some recent successes from the ECC. Blog contributions from Aletha C. Huston, Professor Emerita of Child Development, University of Texas at Austin Early Childhood Council Member, District 5 Success By 6 Coalition Leadership Team Member The Early Childhood Council (ECC) is a City of Austin commission assigned to make recommendations to City Council for the “creation, development, and implementation of programs that promote optimal development for young children…and contribute to a system of high-quality early care and education and after-school programs for Austin’s children.” […]

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MAKE AN AUSTIN THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

Blog contributions from Jordan Gutierrez-Ramirez, United Way ATX Corporate Volunteer Manager Brooke Freeland, United Way ATX Policy Consultant Cathy McHorse, United Way ATX VP of Success By 6 At United Way for Greater Austin we welcome our community to create positive change with us through three avenues: Give. Advocate. Volunteer. While giving and volunteering often feel straightforward, many folks aren’t sure where to start with advocacy. Thankfully, our resident advocacy expert Brooke Freeland is here to show that advocacy is easy! You just have to know where to start. Brooke and our team recently hosted a Volunteer Advocacy training to teach our community how to support issues they care about — and now we’d like to invite you (and everyone in ATX) to learn how to be an awesome advocate! “It was a great session… because in my head I always thought advocacy was much more involved and complex. I didn’t realize it was as simple as an email.” -Newton Wong Want to know how YOU can become an awesome advocate? Here’s how: Step 1: Identify the issue you care about Step 2: Decide the change you’d like to see Step 3: Learn who the decision makers are Step 4: Take action Here’s how to find those decision makers: Austin City Council Travis County Commissioner  AISD School Board  Texas Legislature U.S. Congress Here’s how to engage with those decision makers: Write letters, send emails, or call your elected officials Participate in social media campaigns to spread the word Submit op-eds […]

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