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10 to Watch

Nonprofit organizations led by men have three times the assets as those led by women.

Amplifying under-represented leaders and empowering communities for success.

 

As a community, we haven’t supported enough minority leaders working hard to represent our neighbors in need. We’re addressing racial, gender, and power disparities in leadership by empowering local communities, amplifying the voices of nonprofit leaders of color and women, and preparing the broader community for these leaders’ continued success.

The inaugural program was launched in 2018 to address racial, gender, and resource disparities in local nonprofit leadership by empowering local communities, amplifying the voices of under-represented and under-resourced nonprofit leaders, and preparing the broader community for these leaders’ continued success.

The initiative invests more than a half million dollars over two years — $25K invested in each leader and organization per year — in ten high-impact organizations in the Greater Triangle led by Black, Latinx, and/or Woman leaders. In addition, United Way is collaborating with Leadership Triangle to offer rigorous leadership development opportunities beginning in spring 2024.

The 2023-2025 10 to Watch Leaders

RACHEL BEARMAN

Meals on Wheels Orange County NC

NATHANIEL BRANSCOMB

100 Black Men of Triangle East

TANESHA CAMERON-COLE

Nourish International

SHIRNETTA HARRELL

The No Woman, No Girl Initiative

DR. VALENCIA HICKS-HARRIS

Empower All Inc.

KRISTEN HOPKINS-VINCENT

Dangers of the Mind Education Fund

MAYA JACKSON

MAAME, Inc.

CARLY JONES

Artspace, Inc.

SONALI RATNASINGHE

Youth Ambassadors of Service

REE REE WEI

Transplanting Traditions Community Farm

“What we’re doing is innovative. Having United Way behind us and being part of something that’s so visible has given us relevance to a lot of funders. When we apply for grants or when we talk to donors, I can proudly say ‘I’ve achieved this. Hope Renovations has achieved this. You should put your support behind us for a lot of different reasons but certainly because United Way is putting their support behind us. If they believe in us, you should too.’ I think that’s been a huge benefit to us in terms of just bringing in the funding to be able to develop our capacity.”

10 to Watch Leader Nora El-Khouri Spencer, Founder & CEO, Hope Renovations

“As the leader of this organization, my experience with 10 to Watch provided me enough support, opportunities, and resources to really be deliberate about my development as a leader. What is my philosophy as a leader? What are my core values to myself? But it has also helped make sure that I have the storytelling skills, the techniques, and the connections throughout the community to make sure that others understand the importance of our role, not just for students, but literally the future of Orange County. That would not have been possible without the 10 to Watch.”

10 to Watch Leader Tova Hairston, Executive Director, Boomerang Youth

Previous 10 to Watch Leaders

Note: Organization names are those associated with the leader at the time of their award.

2018-2020

Delores Bailey, EmPOWERment, Inc.

Heather Dennis, Dress for Success Triangle, NC

Atrayus Goode, Mentor NC

Jamaica Gilmer, The Beautiful Project

Syretta Hill, StepUp Durham

Ricky Hurtado, LatinxEd

Will Jackson, Village of Wisdom

Kirby Jones, The Daniel Center for Science and Math

Maggie Kane, A Place at the Table

Nicholé Morgan, TheGifted Arts

2021-2022

Tameka Brown, H.E.A.R.T.S

Ronda Taylor-Bullock, we are

Tova Hairston, Boomerang Youth

Tolulope Omokaiye, Evolve Mentoring

Tojan Rahhal, Engineering World Health

Jenice Ramirez, Isla NC

Annie Schmidt, NAMI

Geraud Staton, Helius Foundation

Joy Spencer, Equity Before Birth

Nora El-Khouri Spencer, Hope Renovations