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2011-12 Campaign Video
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Executive Biographies
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Robert H. "Bob" Brown, President & Chief Executive Officer |
| Robert H. Brown has served as President and CEO for Heart of Florida United Way since March 2006. A skilled non-profit administrator with more than 41 years of experience, Bob joined United Way to have an even greater impact in helping people in need.
Immediately prior to joining United Way, Brown served as President and CEO of Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida for more than five years. During that time, he was widely credited with increasing the quality and scope of the organization's programs.
Two programs initiated under his leadership include First Steps, designed to encourage self-sufficiency among chronically homeless men with substance abuse issues; and the Child Development Program, which provides an on-site, full-time licensed child psychologist and trained assistants to assess every child served and initiate therapy when necessary. Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida is the only homeless shelter to operate a Child Development Program to date.
Additionally, Brown led efforts for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation for 19 years. During that time, he directed chapters in several cities including Boston, Philadelphia, New York City and San Francisco. He later served as national Vice President for March of Dimes Major Chapters. Brown also served as the national Executive Director of The American Foundation for AIDS Research, Executive Director for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and was president and founding partner of the consulting firm Brown, Nordin and York Inc.
In October 2008, Brown was recognized as the Orlando Business Journal's Most Influential Business Man for a Nonprofit. Active in the community, he's a member of:
- Appointed by Mayor Jacobs to the newly created Workforce Central Florida Board of Directors
- Central FloridaCommission on Homelessness
- Dean's Advisory Board for the UCF College of Health & Public Affairs
- Member Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Selection Committee
- Active Member of the Donor's Forum
- Founding Member of the Central Florida Roundtable for Community Based Organizations
- Chair of the United Way of Florida's Chief Professional Officer's Council
He is also one of only 20 United Way CEOs serving on the U.S. Task Force on United Way's Economic Model & Growth.
Brown has been married for more than 27 years to Mary Recchia-Brown, who is also active in the community. They live in South Bay under the command and control of a Bichon Frise named Dudley. | |
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Jill Grevi, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
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A respected member of the executive team, Jill Grevi is responsible for the fiscal oversight of approximately $27.5 million in total resources managed each year by the organization.
Her additional responsibilities include guiding United Way's financial planning strategies, developing and implementing new policies, ensuring compliance with United Way World Wide membership standards, and managing administrative operations, such as human resources and facility management. As an advisor to the United Way Board of Directors, she also reports on new business ventures, banking and investment strategies and budget matters.
In addition to dollars raised by the annual fundraising campaign, organizational resources for which Jill has oversight include funds managed through the United Way Stewardship Program, as well as two programs Grevi helped implement - the Ryan White Part B/General Revenue program, which serves AIDS/HIV patients; and the United Way Gifts in Kind Center, which collects and distributes donated goods that help local nonprofit agencies conserve precious dollars.
Committed to fiscal transparency and responsible stewardship, Grevi's high professional standards have ensured a history of impeccable public audits, which reinforce United Way 's reputation as the gold standard for charitable giving - locally and nationally. This is evidenced by Heart of Florida United Way receiving a four star rating by Charity Navigator.
An accounting graduate of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Grevi began her career in the commercial real estate and insurance industries. Guided by her passion for helping others, she joined United Way as Finance Director in 1991. Two years later she was named Vice President of Finance at Consumer Credit Counseling Service, a United Way funded agency that helps families and individuals reduce debt and build financial stability.
After three years of working with the agency, she returned to Heart of Florida United Way and has continued her tradition of running a first-class accounting operation, which continually receives accolades from United Way board members and the accounting community. |
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Robert G. "Bob" Haight, Senior Vice President, Resource Development |
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Robert Haight joined Heart of Florida United Way (HFUW) in September, 2010 to lead the organization's multimillion dollar annual campaign effort that helps fund nearly 100 local health and human service programs. The Heart of Florida United Way 2010-11 campaign raised $17.4 million in support of Building Safe Communities through Education, Improving Financial Stability, Developing Healthy Children and Families and Alleviating Hunger and Homelessness.
A results-oriented community leader with 30 years of United Way experience, Haight's expertise includes workplace fundraising, major gift development, community investment, social responsibility initiatives, financial management and public policy.
Prior to joining HFUW, Haight served as president of Heart of West Michigan United Way, based in Grand Rapids, where he was responsible for revenue of more than $14 million and an additional $8 million in resources-under-management.
From 1999-2003, Haight also served as president of United Way of Illinois, which supported the work of 102 local United Ways in the areas of resource development, strategic planning, marketing and public policy. United Way of Illinois members collectively raise approximately $141 million per year.
In this role, Haight also guided major marketing and public policy initiatives, including the organization's NFL partnership with the Chicago Bears; and the Illinois Charter for Children, which promotes the healthy development of children and families.
Earlier in his career, Haight also led United Way organizations in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. He was also instrumental in guiding a multistate collaboration to expand and improve the national 2-1-1 Information and Referral System.
Long active in civic issues and organizations, Haight served with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, the Kent County (Michigan) Workforce Development Board, the Kent County Family Children's Coordinating Council and the Emergency Needs Task Forces. As president of Heart of West Michigan United Way, he also co-chaired a Countrywide Mortgage foreclosure settlement program that generated more than $3 million for local youth education initiatives.
Haight is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, where he earned a masters degree in Social Science Administration. He also holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Ashland College. He and his wife, Susan, are the proud parents of two adult daughters, Sara and Kristen. |
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Michael Lewellen, Vice President, Marketing & Communications |
| Building on a successful, award-winning career in public relations and corporate communications, Michael Lewellen joined Heart of Florida United Way in 2011 as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. He leads the team responsible for communications and marketing strategies to strengthen the United Way brand in Central Florida.
Throughout his 29-year career, Lewellen has held senior positions with Nike, Turner Sports, Fox Sports Net, Black Entertainment Television (BET Networks), NBC Universal and other iconic brands in media strategies, reputation management, sports and entertainment publicity, crisis response and brand communications.
His reputation as a communications strategist and spokesperson has landed Lewellen appearances on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, National Public Radio, American Urban Radio Network, ABC, CBS and a host of other national, regional and local media outlets.
From September 2007 through 2009, Lewellen served as Vice President of Public Relations at Universal Orlando Resort, where he supervised media communications, theme park and attractions publicity and crisis management. Following that, he served as acting CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, the region's leading social and economic equality agency. After leading a national search for a permanent CEO for the local Urban League, Lewellen resumed management of LewCom Strategies, a public relations and media consultancy he launched in 2009.
Among his corporate roles, Lewellen served for seven years as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for BET Networks. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Media Relations for Fox Sports Net in New York and Los Angeles, where he directed media relations and publicity for the organization and its 22 regional cable sports networks.
A native of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Lewellen holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Arkansas State University; and is an internationally accredited public relations practitioner through the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators. In 2009, the 58th Annual Southern Regional Press Institute at Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia, bestowed upon Lewellen the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications. The National Black Public Relations Society honored Lewellen in 2005 with its highest honor - the Founders Award - for his achievements in the public relations profession.
Along with the Central Florida Urban League, Lewellen also serves on the board of the Garden Theatre performing arts center in Winter Garden, Florida. |
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Joan Nelson, Vice President, Community Investment |
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Joan Nelson first joined Heart of Florida United Way in 1997 as Director of Resource Management. She was responsible for the fund distribution process, where she oversaw recruitment and training of community volunteers who made recommendations for the distribution of approximately $12 million to more than 150 social service programs. She has been responsible for HFUW's role in the introduction and ongoing training of Outcome Based Evaluation training for agencies and programs serving central Florida.
After a short period away from HFUW, she returned in 2001 to a joint position between HFUW and the University of Central Florida, as the Director of Research and Evaluation/Campus Director of the American Humanics Certificate program for UCF. The university and Heart of Florida United Way have had a long and successful collaboration and Nelson's efforts and leadership contributed to this success.
In February 2007, Nelson was promoted to Vice President of Community Investment, with the responsibility of implementing an expansion of the current business model called Investing In Results (IIR). The IIR process focuses resources for programs and initiatives that address the root causes of problems in order to move the needle and create lasting change in the community.
In addition, Nelson has served as an adjunct professor in UCF's School of Social Work and Public Administration departments, and she has taught at California State University, San Bernadino. Active in the community, she has served with numerous groups, including the Orange County Partnership Committee, the Orange County Commission on Aging, Seminole Community Alliance, the UCF School of Social Work Community Advisory Committee, the UCF Nonprofit Management Advisory Board, the Orange County Central Receiving Center Governing Board and the Wraparound Orange Continuum of Care Committee.
A published author, Nelson co-authored an article entitled "Evaluating Performance Systems in Nonprofit Agencies: The Program Accountability Scale (PAQS)," which appeared in the American Journal of Evaluation. Another co-authored article, "Predictive Factors in Creating Successful Outcome Evaluation Plans," appeared in Nonprofit Management & Leadership. In 2009, Nelson was honored with the National Network for Social Work Managers Exemplar Award. In 2010, she received the UCF Outstanding Alumni Award for the School of Social Work.
Nelson received her MBA from Rollins College and earned a Masters in Social Work from UCF and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She has two grown sons and has lived in Winter Park for 28 years. |
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Larry Olness, Vice President, Community Services |
| Larry Olness joined Heart of Florida United Way in May 2005 as Vice President of 2-1-1. Since then, his role expanded and he became Vice President, Community Services, as the Volunteer Center and the Gifts In Kind Center were added to his responsibilities.
Previously, Olness spent nine years at the United Way of Dane County in Madison, where he served as Program Manager for Statewide 2-1-1 on behalf of the state of Wisconsin. During this time, he represented Wisconsin on the National 2-1-1 Partnership that successfully petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to approve the use of 2-1-1 throughout the United States. Additionally, he initiated the Midwest Regional Assembly consisting of six Midwestern states to address border, telecommunications, and data issues as well as exploring multi-state funding opportunities. During this time, he designed, developed and implemented a statewide 2-1-1 system that serves over five million residents in 72 counties to this day.
Olness became involved with United Way after creating a food pantry through a number of churches in the Madison, WI area. He became a member of the First Call for Help Board of Directors, which later became 2-1-1, and found ways to drastically improve the process to provide better direction to the area's residents in need. At that time, he was asked to lead the 2-1-1 charge for United Way of Madison.
Today, Olness is active with a number of local and national initiatives, such as Disaster Committee Chair for the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS); board member for the 2-1-1 Assembly; board member for the Community Assistance Network Steering Committee and a representative for Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster via AIRS.
Olness grew up in Wisconsin, served seven years in the U.S. Army and attended the University of Wisconsin. He and his wife, Shellie, have four daughters and reside in Oviedo. |
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