. : CHANGE WAYS : .

About Ron Stevens

Biography & Experience

In March, 2003, Ron formed ChangeWays LLC, with the specific purpose of assisting local united Ways who wish to change the way they do business and to change their communities. Ron brings nearly 30 years of experience in the nonprofit community, 16 1/2 within the United Way system, first as CEO of UW of Santa Fe County, then as Director of Community Impact Services for UWA. Before joining UW, he spent 12 years in community change- oriented work with other nonprofit and public institutions in Chicago.

Local UW Experience. Ron led the UW of Santa Fe County (UWSFC) through its change from a traditional, underperforming United Way to one that was repeatedly cited for its leadership in what has come to be known as “community impact” work. UWSFC was a Demonstration Site for UWA’s Outcome Measurement Project, one of the seven “Branding Pilots” and one of four “Beta Sites” for what became the Impact Transformation Partnership (ITP). Locally, UWSFC helped lead community initiatives focusing on affordable housing, community schools, expanded access to healthcare, and other issues. UWSFC was also one of the earlier UWs to shift to a comprehensive Community Priorities Plan guiding all community investment decisions. During that period, UWSFC also received national awards for its marketing and planned giving work. During Ron's tenure, his UW grew from raising under $450,000 to $1.3 million.

UWA/UW system Experience. As director of the Impact Transformation Partnership (ITP) for UWA, Ron led the development and implementation of the ITP, which provided intense, ongoing consultation services to local UWs seeking to accelerate and improve their progress toward greater community impact. He served as Lead Consultant for 7 local United Ways:

United Way of Capital Area (Austin, TX)
United Way of Greater Cincinnati (OH)
United Way of Cass-Clay (Fargo, ND)
United Way of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, AZ)
United Way of Greater Greensboro (NC)
United Way of Lake County (Gurnee, IL)
United Way of Northern Nevada & the Sierra (Reno, NV),

Ron also served as a team member and facilitator with 5 other United Ways. While at UWA, Ron co-developed the “Community Investment Triangle” and “Getting Focused to Make Investment Decisions” tools, and was an active participant in the “Impact Strategies, Resources & Results” workgroup for the Standards of Excellence (phases 1 and 2). Ron has conducted numerous board and staff retreats and workshops, and has presented at numerous national and regional conferences.

Experience outside United Way. Before joining the United Way system, Stevens served as President/CEO of Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE) a Midwestern environmental organization with a focus on urban toxic pollution based in Chicago; Program Officer of The Joyce Foundation, a large private foundation; Chief of the Housing Division for the Cook County State’s Attorney Office; Staff with Business & Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), a public interest law firm where he also served as Founder/Director of The Housing Agenda, a metropolitan advocacy coalition; and Staff for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. While in Chicago, he founded or co-founded three organizations and served on the boards of several other organizations.

About ChangeWays work in local Communities

As President of ChangeWays, Ron has worked with the following clients:

North Texas UW (Wichita Falls, TX) – organizational change
UW of Metropolitan Chicago (IL) – “Case for Change” workshops for suburban units
Midland Introspective 2007 (Midland, TX) – Community-wide priority-setting
UW of Greater Portland (ME) – identification of priorities and process for investing resources
UW of Central Louisiana (Alexandria, LA) – developing goals and strategies for early childhood initiative
UW of Kentucky (Louisville, KY) – statewide retreat for UW staff leadership
UW of Greater Waterbury (CT) – developing greater focus for its work and investments
UW of Frederick County (MD) – overall organizational transformation

The following are highlighted achievements of UWSFC that were made under the leadership of Ron Stevens.

Chaired and staffed an affordable housing partnership that housed 800 families and won a major award for the city of Santa Fe

Helped found and chaired partnership that created five community schools and several other initiatives

Developed a detailed Community Priorities Plan that drove all organizational investments

Served as a Demonstration Site for a national Outcome Measurement Project

Served as one of seven (7) Pilots for United Way of America’s Branding Initiative

Served as one of four (4) “beta sites” for what was to ultimately become the ITP.

Received a national award for Marketing from United Way of America.

Received a national award for Planned Giving from Untied Way of America.

Developed a diverse, streamlined board that reflected the values and makeup of the community and that would help lead organizational and community change.

Increased campaign revenue dramatically and reduced designations.