Project LEAD: Giving Voice to Your Passion
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United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County

Project LEAD: Giving Voice to Your Passion

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November 9, 2016

Written by Jesse Waukau, IndependenceFirst Board Member

My six-year-old daughter loves anything Chef Boyardee makes, but you couldn’t tell since half of it usually ends up on our kitchen floor. She’d like nothing better than to run around with her dog, but she never takes him outside. These fun and carefree tasks can be incredibly difficult when impacted by cerebral palsy. My daughter has to work twice as hard and it breaks my heart. It also gives me more determination to make the world we live in more inclusive and supportive of individuals with similar challenges. That is why I am committed to advocating for resources, improving access to care, and supporting independence for all those impacted by differing abilities. United Way’s Project LEAD helped make my passion for this cause a reality.

Through focused board training, interactive panel discussions, and peer team building, each week I learned invaluable lessons to improve my boardroom performance and understand the responsibilities of board service. Serving as a board member is so much more than reading reports and voting on policies. It requires understanding your agencies clients and advocating for their needs too. While understanding of governance is key, passion for your agency’s purpose makes the mid-day committee meetings and after-work board meetings highlights of the week.

Throughout the Project LEAD program, we learned the basics of fundraising by forming teams and organizing events to raise money for one of United Way’s pillars of health, education, and financial stability. While I found it a bit challenging at first, it helped me get comfortable with mobilizing networks to support a cause.

Shortly after I graduated from Project LEAD, I interviewed and was nominated to the board of IndependenceFirst this past August. It feels AMAZING to join an organization that is focused on empowering individuals with disabilities and appreciates the perspectives that I can share. I could not have made the connection with IndependenceFirst or met so many great friends in Project LEAD without the vision of United Way and the success of Project LEAD class of 2015.

Feeling inspired? Learn more about Project LEAD and apply to be a participant.

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