Laurie George
Laurie George Energizes Local Women In Philanthropy
Laurie George has dedicated most of her professional life to United Way of Palm Beach County, working there for 20 years and reaching the touted accomplishment of becoming the agency’s first female President & CEO in the company’s 90-year history.
“It was a great moment. My daughter was so proud and said, ‘anything is possible for girls,’” says George.
Now George is working to make anything possible for other women and girls. Under her leadership, United Way launched a local initiative called Women United with a handful of donors. The group, which is 450-plus strong, partners with nonprofits dedicated to supporting women and girls including Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County and HomeSafe.
A recent $10 million grant from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott became the largest gift ever received by the organization. This gift inspired the agency to establish Women of Tocqueville, a network of female philanthropists who invest in United Way and volunteer to create meaningful change. As a result, United Way is assembling a group of business leaders and philanthropists to study the needs of the community and determine where to best allocate the gift in order to create lasting change.
“We study community needs, figure out sources of revenue that can help meet those needs, identify nonprofit partners that can help carry out the programs and make sure they are reaching their outcomes and that they are accountable with the money,” says George. “United Way became my passion because we study the needs in the community and then create change in real time for real people.”
Most people associate United Way with workplace campaigns. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, United Way pivoted its fundraising efforts as needs changed. The Palm Beach County community has been reached via virtual events, local TV stations have donated airtime for telethons and major donors have stepped up to fill the gaps.
Like many nonprofit agencies, United Way relies on donations of time, talent and treasure.
“We invite everyone to call us or go to our website to join us and be part of the transformational change in Palm Beach County,” George says.
United Way of Palm Beach County is located at 477 S. Rosemary Ave., Ste. 230, West Palm Beach. For more information, call 561-375-6600 or visit unitedwaypbc.org.
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