Building Brighter Futures Together

Since United Way Worldwide launched the Next-Generation Leaders Initiative in April 2024, something extraordinary has been happening across our network. Next-Gen Leaders from 39 states, eight countries, and 93 United Ways committed to solving real community challenges with future-focused leadership and strategic foresight. Through demonstration projects, they are co-creating solutions with their communities in what is rapidly becoming the United Way network's innovation lab.

Next-Gen demonstration projects are generating small-scale, time-bound innovations tied to urgent community issues and long-term goals: youth opportunity, economic disparity, disaster resilience, health equity, and digital access. These projects aren't isolated change efforts. They are designed to be shared, adapted, and scaled across the global United Way network.

In December 2025, 22 Next-Gen Leaders complete their 18-month learning journey to become future-focused leaders that anticipate change and manage uncertainty. United Way Worldwide built this program to empower emerging leaders to prepare for the future, strengthen civil society, and spark meaningful impact in their organizations, communities, and across the network. 

Building Future-Focused Leadership

The structured 18-month program unfolds in five phases: Foundations, Leadership Competencies and Skills, Strategic Foresight, Project Development and Implementation, and Impact Storytelling. A senior-level United Way executive sponsors each Next-Gen leader, who, in turn, builds their own peer-coaching capacity throughout the journey.

Together, we've built a program, in partnership with the Institute for the Future, that prepares leaders to use a future-focused mindset to best leverage United Way's unique role as a catalyst for community change, mobilizing individuals, organizations, and communities across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. 

Leaders in Action Across the Network

Katelyn Pushard, Director of Community Impact at United Way of Kennebec Valley has helped establish a Community Resiliency Focus Area and Cabinet at her United Way. She reflected on her Next-Gen journey, “Next-Gen strengthened my growth mindset. The futures thinking and foresight were honestly life-changing for me. I had never engaged in such a structured, intentional process for thinking about long-term change. Learning to explore alternative futures shifted the way I process information and think about uncertainty. And systems thinking helped me articulate patterns I had only sensed before.”

The work is already creating ripple effects across the United Way network. In Canada, two Next-Gen leaders partnered to reimagine how United Way demonstrates impact. "We are redefining how United Way shows impact—rooted in systems change and community voice," said Barbara Besner, Senior Manager at United Way Winnipeg. Her project partner, Marianne Krawchuk, added, "We learned to go slow to go fast. Transformation requires patience, listening, and learning."

In Winnipeg, that intentional pace is helping teams lead through ambiguity. "Leadership today means being comfortable with uncertainty and constant evolution," Barbara shared. "We are learning to adapt continuously rather than waiting for things to return to normal."

Southern Maine's Rebecca Alfredson reflected on how the program has reshaped her approach. "This journey reshaped my leadership and expanded my sphere of influence. The program gave me a framework to navigate complexity and contain the messiness. I am building something new with my community, not just for them." 

Addressing Community Challenges

Many of the Next Gen demonstration projects address the conditions that test community resiliency: housing instability, health disparities, climate disruptions, and economic pressures. Next-Gen leaders collaborate with their communities on local solutions that respond both to urgent needs and build resilience.  

Nicole Cameron, Vice President of Philanthropy and Growth Strategy at United Way Maritimes, has experienced this shift in mindset. "I gained a global community of brilliant, supportive peers. I no longer build alone. I source ideas from across the network."

The Next-Generation Leadership initiative is significant because it offers opportunities for growth in both individual leadership and collective creativity. The Next-Gen initiative is innovating to meet uncertainty with imagination and to strengthen the United Way network from within.

We are preparing our next generation of leaders to face the future with empathy, co-engineer futures with their communities, and grow the network's capability in the process. This is what future-ready leadership looks like. And we are just getting started. 

United Way Worldwide celebrates the 20 United Ways who invested in Future-Focused Leadership for our first pioneering Next-Generation Leader Cohort. Congratulations to our first graduating Next-Gen leaders! 

Rebecca Alfredson — Senior Director of Youth Opportunity, United Way of Southern Maine

Danielle Bautista — Director of Public Policy, United Ways of California

Megan Beddow-Peters — Community Partnership Schools Director, United Way Broward County (Florida)

Barbara Besner — Senior Manager, Research & Governance, United Way Winnipeg (Canada)

Nick Brouwer — Vice President of Corporate Engagement, Heart of West Michigan United Way

Stephanie Buchanan — Manager, Investor Relations, United Way Racine County (Wisconsin)

Amanda Burns — Director of Campaigns & Volunteers, Butler County United Way (Ohio)

Nicole Cameron — Vice President, Philanthropy & Growth Strategy, United Way Maritimes (Canada)

Madison Cotherman — Director of Donor Engagement & Major Gifts, Tulsa Area United Way (Oklahoma)

Sarah Erhardt — Director of Community Investments, United Way of Central New Mexico

Sean Ford — CEO, United Way of Miami County (Ohio)

Julie Filderman — Senior Director of Marketing & Innovation, United Way of Central Maryland

Marianne Krawchuk — Senior Manager of Impact & Evaluation, United Way Winnipeg (Canada)