Who makes the decisions for how United Way of Kern County operates? You might be surprised to hear that although the United Way name is recognized nationally, each United Way is independent and locally governed. That's important, because it means that your United Way is governed by your fellow Kern County residents. The branch manager of your local bank, your retired neighbor down the street, the CEO of the oil company whose kids go to school with yours and the ex-Mayor of the small farming community you live in might all be involved on United Way's Governing Board.

United Way's Governing Board is comprised of 20 of our community's hardest working people. They have the important task of managing United Way to ensure that it operates in a manner that meets the expectations or our donors. This means reviewing financial data on a monthly basis, approving policy recommendations from volunteers and staff, approving United Way's operating budget and determining how much funding is available for investment in the community each year.

Members:

2007/2008 Governing Board:

• Tom Dorlis, Chair
  Assistant Human Resource Manager,
  State Farm Insurance

• Debbie Moreno, Secretary
  President, Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce

• Nikki Cross, Treasurer
  O’Dell Cross, P.C.

• Mike Blake
  Senior Vice President, Union Bank of California

• Craig A. Bonna
  President, Robert Heely Construction

• Keith Brice
  President, Mid State Development Corporation

• Don Bynum
  Property Management Director
  Gregory D. Bynum & Associates

• Estela Casas
  Executive Dir, Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance
  (Agency Rep)

• Roger Christy
  Policy, Government & Public Affairs Representative, Chevron

• Nora Dominguez
  Associate Director of Admissions
  University of LaVerne

• Teresa Ford
  General Manager
  Univision/KABE/KUVI

• Greg Heiss
  Vice President/Manager
  Rabobank

• Dan Klingenberger
  Attorney, Dowling, Aaron & Keeler, Inc.

• Javier Lozano
  Human Resource Manager
  City of Bakersfield

• Joe MacIlvaine
  President, Paramount Farming

• Danielle McKinney, APR
  Area Marketing Director, Kaiser Permanente Kern County

• Dr. Larry Reider
  Superintendent, Kern County Supt. of Schools

• Gene Voiland
  President & CEO, Aera Energy LLC 

• Lonie Wattenbarger
  Robert Wattenbarger, Inc.

Advisory Board

"Let me give you some advice…" are not just words to United Way, but rather a call to action. Sound policies and decisions rest on the shoulders of United Way's Advisory Board, which has the responsibility for recommending policy to the Governing Board. This policy guides United Way into the future, and provides us with a road map for how to get there. To make that map a littler easier to understand, we've divided the Advisory Board's work into four core competencies. In other words, these are the four things we do best:

• Assess community needs
• Develop the resources needed to meet those needs
• Distribute the funding with a focus on outcomes
• Communicate results to the community

Focus Teams