New CEO wants United Way to be Las Vegas’ ‘preeminent collaborator’

United Way of Southern Nevada’s caller person considers his assignment to president and CEO a absorption from God to instrumentality to helping his hometown.

That’s wherefore Julian High was compelled to instrumentality connected the apical relation of 1 of Southern Nevada’s largest nonprofits, helium said successful an interrogation with the Review-Journal connected Tuesday.

High, of North Las Vegas, attended Chaparral High School and antecedently served arsenic the laminitis and president of a C-suite consulting firm, J3H Platinum. He besides worked arsenic the manager of assemblage and authorities affairs for Sahara Gaming Corporation and worked with the National Industries for the Blind and the Human Rights Campaign, starring operations successful quality resources and diversity, equity and inclusion projects.

High replaces Kyle B. Rahn, who resigned earlier this year. He is the archetypal Black person of United Way of Southern Nevada, the nonprofit said.

Interview questions and responses person been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Review-Journal: What made you initially privation to use for this role?

High: I knew that I was going to commencement looking for the adjacent happening successful my life, and that was to assistance the assemblage wherever I grew up. I knew that we could discontinue to immoderate spot successful the country. Although my hubby is retired, I intelligibly americium not. So, I knew that I wanted to beryllium successful Las Vegas due to the fact that I knew that I wanted to travel backmost and springiness thing to the assemblage that means truthful overmuch to maine and gave truthful overmuch to me.

I grew up successful the poorest portion of town. In my precocious schoolhouse graduating class, determination were 28 Black kids who graduated successful a people of 700 people. I was pupil assemblage president of the schoolhouse with that tiny of a Black population. I ne'er felt thing different than emotion and compassion. I had kids successful my schoolhouse whose parents were casino owners and kids successful my schoolhouse whose parents were housekeepers, and we were each the same. My emotion of this assemblage is heavy due to the fact that this assemblage showed maine I could bash immoderate I wanted. I could person immoderate benignant of opportunities that I wanted if I chose to enactment hard and beryllium bully to people. I got that from this community.

That’s wherefore I deliberation I judge that this is divine providence that I get to travel backmost and pb specified an astonishing radical of people, and beryllium a portion of a radical of committed nonprofit leaders and philanthropists who truly embody the tone of what it means to beryllium successful Las Vegas. It means we instrumentality attraction of each other, and we’re bully to each different and we fig things retired together. That’s my worldview and that was formed close present successful Las Vegas.

You’ve held a batch of antithetic quality resources and diversity, equity and inclusion roles successful the past. What did you larn from them that you privation to bring to the United Way?

I understood that it was important for the semipermanent wellness of that enactment that we diversify successful aggregate points passim the enactment due to the fact that it conscionable made concern sense. And certainly, my passionateness for driving that was twofold. One, I wanted to beryllium inclusive of everyone astir the array and, astatine the aforesaid time, present existent results for the organization’s bottommost line.

I understood — and inactive proceed to recognize — that those 2 things aren’t exclusive. They’re inextricably bound, and you request to beryllium capable to weave diverseness of experiences, diverseness of colors, race, sexualities, everything successful bid to determination the needle for immoderate organization.

That’s truly what we bash astatine United Way of Southern Nevada. We bring disparate groups, each types into the fold and assistance them utilize and leverage the resources disposable to america successful the assemblage to make bully change.

Do you person immoderate memories of interacting with United Way erstwhile you were increasing up oregon successful erstwhile jobs?

While my household ne'er accessed United Way services, my member and nephew are individuals who sometimes request assistance from agencies that are wrong the United Way web of nonprofits simply due to the fact that my member doesn’t person an acquisition and my nephew doesn’t person an education. I assistance them to the grade that I can, (but) determination are times erstwhile they person to pat into the resources.

I was astatine 1 of our spouse nonprofits, Leaders successful Training, past week and I said to the enforcement director, “I’m going to person my nephew bring his kids present due to the fact that they could surely payment from the services that you guys provide.” (Leaders successful Training is) truly astir supporting kids truthful they tin get a assemblage grade to extremity the rhythm of poorness — if you’re capable to bash that, it’s incredibly uplifting. It was an “a-ha” moment. I conscionable learned thing successful my relation arsenic president of United Way that could perchance person an interaction for my nephew and my grandnieces and -nephews.

What goals bash you person for the organization?

We person a tremendous work successful this infinitesimal to proceed the agelong contented of enactment that we’ve done with providing exigency assistance and captious assistance to radical successful times of need, and United Way has ever been there.

We deployed 2,600 volunteers successful the past year, we provided $4.1 cardinal successful exigency nutrient and structure programme backing during the past twelvemonth and we’ve raised $2.4 cardinal to supply food, structure and inferior assistance. We did this arsenic the section United Way. And past you laic connected apical of that, we were fixed the tremendous work and accidental to deploy the MacKenzie Scott gift. (Scott, Amazon co-founder and Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, donated $10 cardinal to UWSN successful December 2020. It was the largest acquisition successful UWSN’s history.)

My idiosyncratic goals for the enactment would beryllium that we’re the preeminent convener and collaborator and capableness builder for nonprofits successful the Las Vegas Valley. I deliberation that we’re well-positioned and I deliberation that we’re well-suited for the role. With each that we person inactive near to do, United Way is uniquely positioned and uniquely suited to bash truthful efficaciously successful the community.

Is determination thing successful the UWSN that you privation to alteration oregon amended upon?

I judge successful the process of continuous improvement. I judge each time you get up and you effort to bash a amended occupation than you did the time before. In this enactment I’m committed to adhering to that principle. We tin look astatine everything is up for evaluation. Everything is up for transformation. Because if you don’t, you go stale and you don’t displacement to conscionable the needs of your constituents, which is yet serving the top magnitude of radical that we tin service successful Southern Nevada who request help.

I travel successful with a caller acceptable of eyes. I’ve been connected the East Coast for a agelong time; I bring that position to bear. I bring my ain idiosyncratic position of knowing this assemblage that I emotion is simply a spot of bully radical with bully intentions. I bring with maine my acquisition arsenic a Black cheery antheral who understands that alteration ever makes things better. I’m not acrophobic of alteration and I privation to beryllium a servant leader. I usage that word often with our team. We are present to service the neediest, the astir astatine risk, the younker of this community. We bash truthful arsenic with a imaginativeness of being a servant to folks successful this community. It’s extremist emotion and it’s extremist compassion, and passionateness for the enactment we bash here.

McKenna Ross is simply a corps subordinate with Report for America, a nationalist work programme that places journalists into section newsrooms. Contact her astatine mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ connected Twitter.