SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - When Amber Lovett joined United Way California Capital Region as a communications manager in 2001, she loved having the opportunity to interview program recipients and donors and share their stories. As she celebrates her 25th anniversary at United Way this year, now as chief marketing and resource development officer, she feels an even stronger connection to donors, volunteers and clients. 

“Back then, it always felt like there was someone between us and our donors and clients because our nonprofit partners were the only ones providing direct services, and our workplace giving model didn’t allow as much communication with our donors,” Lovett said. “Having the chance to interview them was my only direct connection.”

Over the past 25 years, the local United Way has honed its mission to mobilize the community to action so all can thrive. The organization began offering direct services in the areas of healthy community, youth opportunity, financial security and community resiliency alongside its nonprofit partners. United Way also began to broaden its fundraising strategy from primarily workplace giving to include more direct individual and corporate giving.

The new strategies have resulted in deeper partnerships across the region, not only with nonprofits and corporations, but with individual donors and people receiving services in the community.

“Our partnerships are still our superpower, but we’ve been able to create more direct relationships, so those walls that used to be there have come down,” Lovett said. “It’s been powerful to see how we can provide direct services while still retaining great partnerships.

We’re proud to still be growing, despite the decline in workplace giving, because we’ve developed other revenue streams.”

A year after joining United Way, Lovett was instrumental in starting United Way’s Women United action group that leverages group members’ passions, ideas, expertise and resources to ensure foster youth are prepared for success once they exit the system. Since its founding in 2002, the group has raised more than $2 million to help current and former foster youth gain the education and skills they need to thrive.

In addition to contributing her resources as a founding member, Lovett also presented at life skills workshops for the youth, helped host drives, and last year had the opportunity to take some of them shopping for formal wear to attend United Way’s United in Purpose Gala where they were surprised with guaranteed income for a year.

“Some of my most meaningful interactions at United Way have been with the foster youth in our programs,” Lovett said. “I’ll never forget how rewarding it was to present workshops on how to purchase a car and improve your credit. I also was able to bring my daughter with me when we took some of the foster youth shopping for the Gala, and it was really special to have her meet them. All those moments make you feel like all the hard work and challenges are worth it.”

For many years, United Way’s Women United held a towel drive to ensure foster youth in the program would have new bath towels when they moved out on their own.

“I remember one girl telling me she didn’t even have a towel,” Lovett said. “She said she just used her clothes to drive off. Here I thought we were just making sure they had new towels. I was shocked.”

When former president and CEO Stephanie Bray stepped down, Lovett was tapped as interim president and CEO until the role was filled by Dr. Dawnté Early. Since Early’s arrival, the organization has ramped up, with Lovett saying Early has raised the bar on what everyone thought they could accomplish.

Financially, the local United Way went from raising slightly more than $1 million in grants five years ago to this year targeting more than $11 million in grants. She is proud to have been part of that work, undertaking the role of grants project manager for the first time and discovering it was a good fit with her skill set.

In 2023, as the local United Way turned 100 years old, the organization held its inaugural gala, in which Lovett was instrumental.

“There is something hard to replicate about bringing 500 people together for a common cause,” Lovett said. “There are a lot of nonprofit events in town, but I think ours is special because we highlight our work in such a creative way. People really get to see the impact of their donations right in front of them. Each year they can see how dollars raised at past galas were put to work immediately to expand and grow.”

At the inaugural gala, United Way announced its 100th Anniversary campaign to raise $3 million so 10,000 kids could excel in school by the end of 2025. It was a tall order for Lovett as head of fundraising, but United Way exceeded its financial goal and also served nearly double the number of children at 19,700 kids.

At this year’s gala, United Way announced its “School. Income. Home.” campaign to raise $15 million by 2028 to serve 100,000 children across the region.

“In today’s world, children and families are going to need us more and more, and those needs seem to change every day,” Lovett said. “As an organization that’s been here more than 100 years, we will be able to fill those growing gaps. My job is to make sure we keep those dollars coming in so we can do more of the work, and to tell our story in the community so we can have more people join us. I want us to be able to serve more and more children and families.”

Throughout Lovett’s tenure at United Way, she has watched her own family grow. After living in East Sacramento and River Park from 2007-2018, she moved close by to Sierra Oaks. She also became a stepmother and mother and is grateful to her neighbors for the connections her family was able to make during the pandemic. She said during the pandemic a neighbor began hosting an outside happy hour on Friday nights so neighbors could connect, and it has cemented those relationships.

“Everyone would bring lounge chairs, make a huge circle, bring our own drinks and just sit out there getting to know each other,” Lovett said. “It’s just a really cool neighborhood, and I’m grateful to raise my daughter here.”

She also said becoming a stepmother and mother has impacted her work in a positive way.

“I realized that, as a mother, you want the best for your children, and that’s the great equalizer,” Lovett said. “Some kids are born with a lot of opportunity, and some are born with hardly any at all, so we must find ways to give more opportunities to kids who need it.”

Lovett is proud that her family supports her work. During the most recent holiday season, she had several family members assist with the Holiday Toy Drive distribution. Her husband and daughter were there helping parents select toys for their kids, and her stepdaughter brought her mom, aunt, cousin and more to help.

“I had like 10 family members there, and it was really special to be the conduit for people who were looking to do something to give back,” Lovett said. “My stepdaughter and daughter both have volunteered for multiple United Way events. I just really believe this job models service – that this is how you live your life, you serve others.”

Lovett continues to connect with the people United Way serves. At one of the Holiday Toy Drive distributions, she met a mother who fled a violent relationship and said United Way’s guaranteed income program saved her life. She also remembers talking to a mother at one of United Way’s KinderCamp graduations whose daughter was scared to start kindergarten because she had never attended preschool during the pandemic. When that little girl graduated from KinderCamp, her mom said she was confident and ready to start school.

Lovett said it feels surreal to celebrate 25 years at United Way – nearly half her life. She said she has stayed at United Way for more than two decades because of its unique ability to mobilize people for change.

“I’ve always really loved United Way’s mission, and I feel like we have a keen ability to pull in the right partners and do incredible work,” Lovett said. “This has always been an exciting place to work because we have really good people here and are always evolving to meet community needs.”