United Way Worldwide Sheds 40 Employees at Its Headquarters Through Buyouts
By dan.parks and Emily Haynes
February 23, 2022 | Read Time: 3 minutes
About 40 employees of United Way Worldwide will be departing within the next six weeks after accepting voluntary buyouts, and further staff reductions are likely, according to an email sent to the United Way staff that the Chronicle obtained.
The departures follow another round of 19 staff reductions a year ago through attrition, voluntary agreements, and position eliminations.
An email to the staff from CEO Angela Williams on Tuesday said a revenue shortfall “coupled with technology investments, which had good intent but did not meet expectations, combined to leave United Way Worldwide in a difficult financial situation.”
Williams did not specify the nature of those technology investments, although United Way in recent years has announced partnerships with Salesforce.org.
The voluntary buyouts were offered to all employees, according to the email Williams sent to the staff.
Williams took the helm of United Way Worldwide late last year as the first African American to lead the organization, which upon her arrival was dealing with the fallout of accusations by three former employees of a toxic workplace culture. Those accusations led to an internal investigation and a recommendation that the organization improve its workplace culture, morale, and procedures for preventing and punishing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
Williams replaced longtime United Way Worldwide CEO Brian Gallagher, who announced his departure a year ago in the wake of the report, although he claimed there was “no evidence of a toxic or hostile culture.”
At least two senior United Way executives, CFO Mark Sutton and General Counsel Patricia Turner, also recently left the organization, a spokeswoman confirmed. No information was provided about the circumstances of their departure.
United Way announced on February 7 that Leonel Parra, a former executive at Freddie Mac, is United Way’s new CFO, and that Odessa P. Jackson, former general counsel for the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, was named United Way’s new general counsel and chief risk officer. The announcement made no mention of Sutton or Turner.
United Way did not respond to requests for more information about whether all the recent departures have been voluntary, how many more departures are likely, or how many employees remain at the headquarters. In response to those and other questions, United Way issued the following statement:
“Angela Williams, as the new President & CEO, was brought in to do two things for United Way Worldwide during this pivotal moment in our history: Right the ship on some internal challenges and ensure that we’re looking to the horizon so that we remain as impactful as ever. United Way has been around for 135 years. People know our work and the value we bring to communities. Her job is to help provide the leadership and the resources to ensure that we are built for the future, and she couldn’t be more excited for the work ahead.”
