Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
At United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and accessibility are core to who we are and what we do. We denounce all forms of racism and discrimination, which have no place in our society and undermine our efforts to create a community where all people can realize their full potential. We recognize that structural racism, unjust policies and practices, and other forms of oppression have marginalized and harmed entire populations, and continue to affect those populations today. As a community convener and partner, United Way actively seeks to bring together leaders and organizations from across the region to address complex challenges and foster responses that enable all members of the community, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, ability, geography or other intersecting identities, to thrive.
How United Way works to advance equity.
United Way, by nature of our mission, invests in every area where people experience inequity, from food security, access to affordable and safe housing, transportation, child care and health care costs, to access to good jobs, education and out-of-school time experiences.
We are intentionally doing more to equitably fund agencies led by and serving BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) communities.
In our most recent RFP process, we intentionally reached out to agencies that we had not supported before, including agencies led by and serving BIPOC communities to ensure that we are funding agencies that support people across all dimensions of diversity and those that are BIPOC-led. There is much work to do, but this process resulted in United Way funding 52 new agencies, including Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, Neighborhood Allies, Pittsburgh Scholar House and Reimagine Reentry to name a few.
How we benefit women and children.
All people deserve stability, fulfillment and the ability to reach their potential. United Way invests in agencies serving people with the greatest need. Due to wage inequity, racism and other long-standing systemic issues, we know that poverty hits women and children hardest and that these impacts are even greater for women who identify as BIPOC and people with disabilities. Of the agencies funded in our 2023 grant process, $5.5 million of the $7.5 million of the investments made went to agencies that primarily serve women and children. While these agencies don’t only serving women and families, women and children are a have significant needs in the communities they serve.
Community Change Collaboratives are integral to United Way’s work.
We recently began forming Community Change Collaboratives that bring agencies based in and serving diverse populations together to help us innovate. This guidance has helped us understand how to best support smaller, community-based organizations, which are primarily led by people of color. This has led, for example, to the creation of Community Food Solutions, now in its second year of grantmaking, and also our Digital Navigator Network, which is brining low and no-cost internet, devices and training to communities that do not have access to broadband and the internet.