One Young World Summit Montréal/Tiohtiá:ke, 2024

Resilient Communities: Lessons from United Way

• 12:40 - 13:10, 19 September
• Palais des Congrès
• Reckitt Accelerating Impact

Speakers

• Ashwini Sonar

  Coordinator, United Way of Mumbai

  Ashwini Sonar

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  Coordinator, United Way of Mumbai
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  Angela F. Williams

  President and CEO, United Way Worldwide

  Angela F. Williams

  Counsellor

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  President and CEO, United Way Worldwide
  United Way Worldwide

  Angela F. Williams is the President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, where she leads a global network that impacts the lives of 48 million people in 1,100 communities across 37 countries each year. With over 30 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, Angela focuses on building equitable solutions from the ground up, emphasizing the power of local communities and long-term investment. 
  
  Williams previously served as president and CEO of Easterseals; general counsel, and chief administration officer at YMCA of the USA, inter-faith liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund; special counsel on criminal law for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff and as U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). Williams vision for United Way Worldwide is to create equitable solutions in communities and ensure that people experiencing problems have a voice in solving them.

• Kg Banjoko

  President, United 4 Change

  Kg Banjoko

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  President, United 4 Change

  Kg Banjoko is a native West African, from the Yoruba tribe born in what is now called Nigeria. Leaving her home country while she was young, she moved to Chicago, and later Mississauga before her family settled in Łídli Kuę (Fort McMurray) in 2010, calling it home ever since.

  Overtime Kg has become an avid community advocate that has been recognized for her grassroots organizing efforts by Your McMurray (YMM) Magazine, nominated as one of the Top 50 under 50 (2020); is a recipient of the Girls Inc of Northern Alberta’s Women of Inspiration Award (2023) and PrideYMM’s BIPOC Leadership award (2023).

  The summer of 2019 was her first mass organizing effort. Kg led the largest march in Fort McMurray history as one of the main organizers for the BLM Solidarity March. It was through her involvement that Kg was inspired to start her own organization, United 4 Change. Per the last 4 years United 4 Change has delivered numerous workshops/training presentations centered around themes of anti-racism, decolonization, African/Black history, in addition to launching a free food program - Alpha Hub. Alpha Hub is a mutual aid Free Food Pantry, working in the spirit of the Black Panther Party’s free food program distributing groceries, toiletries and other essentials to marginalized community members who are facing hardship due to the rising costs of living in our region.

• Jocelyn Clayton

  Marketing Specialist, Tulsa Area United Way

  Jocelyn Clayton

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  Marketing Specialist, Tulsa Area United Way

  I was selected to attend the Summit as a United Way delegate. I have worked as a marketing specialist at my local United Way branch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. for close to two years. We focus on improving lives through expanding education, improving health and safety, and strengthening financial stability in our community. I am passionate about this work and am proud to be on a team that has raised over $50 million for our community in the past two years.

  I love sharing United Way's story through social media and other forms of communications. The work of our partners is incredible, and I take great pride in knowing that my work helps house people, feed families, give children more opportunities to succeed, and so much more.

  This is my first job after University, and although I'm early in my career, I can't imagine working outside of the nonprofit realm. I love seeing the real, positive impact that is happening in my community and I feel honored to be part of it.

• Veronica Torres

  Project Director, United Way of NYC

  Veronica Torres

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  Project Director, United Way of NYC

  Veronica Torres serves as the Project Director of the Health Equity Unit at United Way of NYC, helping to lead efforts to promote access to care and address social determinants of health needs across New York City. She brings her health programming expertise to deliver the development, coordination, implementation and evaluation of the Health Equity Unit's portfolio of programs. Ms. Torres double majored in Global Public Health and Sociology at New York University, studying abroad across three countries to gain a deep understanding of the sociocultural factors that promote healthy communities and health equity. In 2023, she was certified in Strategy Execution from Harvard Business School. Throughout her professional career, Ms. Torres has accrued extensive experience in research and program development. In 2021, she worked at VNS Health as a Program Manager and was instrumental in securing an Impact Award to implement a referral program which partnered organizations and churches in Harlem and the Bronx with health resources to improve health outcomes for their constituency. She is a committed public health professional with experience in research, community outreach, program development, and management. Between 2019 and 2020, she received three grants from NYU and published original research studying child migrant health and COVID-19.

• Robert Mills

  Project Lead - Economic Empowerment, United Way Ghana

  Robert Mills

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  Project Lead - Economic Empowerment, United Way Ghana

  Robert Mills-Lamptey, with over five-years tenure as Lead for United Way Ghana's Economic Empowerment Program, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to improving the livelihoods of individuals residing in underserved communities and fostering sustainable development initiatives. The Economic Empowerment Project of which Robert Manages currently has over 1000 beneficiaries. As a key leader, he also spearheads United Way Ghana’s crisis relief interventions, ensuring that communities are equipped to recover from disasters, whether stemming from climate change or artificial occurrences.

  Robert champions two crucial crisis interventions: environmental sustainability education and crisis response - which entails developing relief interventions and empowering community members to rebuild their livelihoods post-crisis. A crisis response he is currently spearheading is the recent Akosombo Dam Spillage Disaster in Ghana ensuring that over 3,000 victims have the needed essentials and resources to build back their homes and livelihood.