About Us

Our Mission

United Ways of California improves the health, education and financial results for low-income children and families by enhancing and coordinating the advocacy and community impact work of California’s United Ways.

Throughout California, United Ways advance opportunities for low- and moderate-income people to lead successful lives by focusing on three priority areas:

• Health
• Education
• Financial Empowerment

How We Do This

Engaging the Public for the Common Good

United Ways of California advances the health, education and financial sustainability goals of local United Ways through education and advocacy. As a nonpartisan state organization, we believe the involvement of all sectors- business, nonprofits, philanthropy, government, and an engaged citizenry-are required to make progress on vital challenges facing low-income children and families. We see our role as bringing diverse (and sometimes unlikely) groupings of stakeholders together to address common social problems and work closely with local United Ways to create innovative opportunities to address them.

Boosting Program Impact

United Ways of California enhance the community impact of local United Ways by sharing innovations and lessons learned, improving practices, and building organizational capacity.

Resource Development

United Ways of California helps bring funding and resources to the communities that local United Ways serve through regional and statewide collaboration, and by working with donors who wish to support United Ways at a regional and state level.

California’s United Ways

California’s local United Ways do vital work in their communities. Collectively, they raise over $200 million a year in charitable gifts for targeted investments and critical health, education, and financial sustainability services.

By working together through United Ways of California, local United Ways can more effectively pursue opportunities and develop resources across multiple regions and the entire state, and better influence the state policy environment, which has a significant impact on local United Ways’ success in their communities.

Individually and together, California’s United Ways build a stronger California by mobilizing our public, private and nonprofit sectors through research, civic engagement, public policy advocacy, and results-based funding.