Campaign Chair: Sue Ambler
"No one can do it all, but we can each do our own part to make this a better community for all of us. How are you stepping up to LIVE UNITED today?" asks Sue Ambler.
As CEO of Workforce Development Council Snohomish County, Ambler is well aware of needs in our community. As 2011 Campaign Chair for United Way, she is determined to help address them.
Ambler's background in education, disability services, youth advocacy and employment services and training gives her a deep and broad perspective on our community. Additionally, Sue spends a great deal of time meeting with community members face-to-face to hear their needs and thoughts. She brings both this experience and this passion to her volunteer role as chair of United Way's fundraising campaign.
Sue has chosen the theme of "Step Up" for several reasons. Foremost, it's a call to action to ask everyone to be part of the change they want to see in their community. As an avid and competitive ballroom dancer, Sue also admits to a fondness for shoes and couldn't resist personalizing own response to giving back to her community.
Making "giving back" personal is exactly what Sue hopes everyone in Snohomish County will do. And she's on a mission to meet as many donors and volunteers in person as possible.
One of the hallmarks of her volunteer leadership will be a "Listening and Discovery" tour of the county with United Way President & CEO Dr. Dennis G. Smith. The goal is to hold town hall style meetings at libraries throughout the county this fall to talk to people about what they are seeing in their communities and answer questions about what United Way is doing to advance the common good throughout Snohomish County. She thinks many will be surprised at the scope of the answer and how many services United Way supports.
"United Way touches so many lives throughout Snohomish County, but I'm not sure people realize everything that their gift is accomplishing in their own backyard," Ambler says. "We want to let them know that, and hear from them regarding their own concerns and hopes for their community."
As Campaign Chair, Amber will oversee our fundraising campaign, focusing on dollars raised for United Way's Local Community Fund that supports health and human services in Snohomish County. For Sue, however, "Stepping Up" also includes other ways of LIVING UNITED, such as volunteering and advocacy.
"If you can volunteer a half hour a week, that's great. If you can give a half hour's pay a week to United Way to improve our community, that's great too-and both mean you are leading the way to a better life for all," Ambler says. "However you chose to LIVE UNITED, that's what United Way wants to recognize and celebrate."