How United Way Dealt With a Scandal

To the Editor:

I am writing to set the record straight on the involvement of Brian A. Gallagher in assisting the United Way of the National Capital Area at a time when his help was most needed (“How United Way Handled a Scandal,” Letters, June 10).

There is no doubt that fall 2002 was the worst of times for this organization. As events continued to unfold, a level of paralysis set in on UWNCA’s decision-making apparatus.

The normal process of United Way of America is to leave local matters to local governance and management. However, this situation reached a stage of urgency that required leadership to fill the void. In a highly risky and unusual move, Brian Gallagher filled the void and called for a change in our professional leadership for the good of the UWNCA and the United Way system.

It is easy to “Monday morning quarterback” the timing, but when you examine the conditions at that time, his input was just the right intervention needed to put UWNCA on the road to recovery.

Thanks to Brian Gallagher’s leadership on this issue, the United Way of the National Capital Area, under its new board and management, is running an ethical organization that is well on its way to becoming the community-impact organization the national capital area needs and deserves. I do not believe this would have been possible without Mr. Gallagher’s exemplary leadership on this matter.

Charles W. Anderson
Chief Executive Officer
United Way of the National Capital Area
Washington