Staff Leadership

Della D. Hodson President and Chief Executive Officer (661) 834-1559 Email della.h@uwkern.org Della became President and Chief Executive Officer for United Way of Kern County in July, 2008. Her responsibilities involve oversight of the entire operation, including efforts in resource development, community building and collaboration. She joined United Way of Kern County in 2004 and served as Director of Community Impact until her appointment as President.
Jan Lemucchi Director of Communications & Marketing (661) 834-1382 Email jan.l@uwkern.org Jan become Director of Communications & Marketing in October 2010. Her responsibilities include communicating with the local media, local agencies, community leaders and businesses with an emphasis on building United Way’s efforts on community awareness and services. Since United Way’s goal is creating long-lasting changes that help prevent problems from happening, a strategy of Jan’s is educating Kern County on its main areas of focus: Education, Income & Health.
Mary Almaraz Controller (661) 834-2275 Email mary.a@uwkern.org Mary has been with United Way since June of 2007. She is responsible for carrying out all financial and accounting programs and procedures; safeguarding United Way’s financial resources; ensuring maintenance of adequate systems of internal accounting controls; ensuring adherence to United Way’s financial policies; producing internal and external financial reports; and providing assistance to other departments with respect to various financial issues.
Carmen Bernal Vice President of Community Impact (661) 834-1790 Email carmen.b@uwkern.org Carmen came to United Way in November 2007 serving as the Community Impact and Investment Manager and became Vice President of Community Impact in September 2008. Her responsibilities include leading and directing the organization’s short-and long-term Community Impact efforts, planning and coordinating the distribution of undesignated campaign revenue and overseeing the outcomes and evaluation activities related to community impact.
Rachel Almaraz Community Impact & Investment Manager (661) 834-1489 Email: rachel.a@uwkern.org Rachel is responsible for managing United Way’s strategic investment in community programs and activities, and our Community Impact Agenda. Specifically, she manages the activities of the organization in an effort to achieve a coordinated and effective human service system in the community, in cooperation with the Vice President of Community Impact, UWKC Governing Board, community leaders, corporate and nonprofit organizations and key volunteer impact committees and councils. Previous to her position with United Way, Rachel was a compliance coordinator for a local nonprofit child care agency that provided services to low income families.
Paula Fadel UWKC Office Manager (661) 834-1820 Email paula.f@uwkern.org Paula is responsible for coordination and management of office procedures and work-flow within the organization. Primary objectives include payroll, management support, developing and managing office procedures with purchasing, volunteer support, and other office needs that arise.
Resource Development Manager (661) 834-1580 Email The Resource Development Manager is responsible for the development and implementation of a strategic plan for the annual United Way fundraising campaign, in addition to recruiting and overseeing the seasonal campaign team.
W. Donald Harris Director of IT & Creative Services (661) 834-1820 Email don.h@uwkern.org Don joined United Way of Kern County in 1986. As Director of IT his responsibilities include installing, programming and maintaining our internal network of servers and computers. He is also responsible for programming and maintaining our campaign and financial databases insuring data integrity, provides leadership with internal processes and reporting of pledge and payment information.
Gloria Martinez Data Processing Assistant (661) 834-1820 Email gloria.m@uwkern.org Gloria joined United Way of Kern County at the beginning of 2007. As Data Processing Assistant to Director of IT and Creative Services, Gloria’s responsibilities include processing donor pledge and payment information, updating and maintaining our extensive campaign database, and generating reporting to various departments.
Louis Medina Homelessness Project Manager / Emergency Food & Shelter Program Administrator (661) 834-2734 Email louis.m@uwkern.org Louis joined United Way of Kern County in April 2011. He is the Homelessness Project Manager for the Kern County Homeless Collaborative, a network of dozens of local organizations working with UWKC to reduce homelessness by providing housing, supportive service and financial stability opportunities for the homeless and at-risk. He is the primary contact with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on behalf of the Bakersfield / Kern County Continuum of Care, a set of competitively-adwarded programs created to address the problems of homelessness. In July 2011, Louis also began serving in the administration of the general activities of Kern County Emergency Food & Shelter Program. Louis is fluent in Spanish.
Susana Espinoza (661) 834-1820 Email susana.e@uwkern.org Susana joined United Way of Kern County in