Never did Moira Weir imagine taking the helm of United Way of Greater Cincinnati under such unusual circumstances.
When the global COVID-19 crisis descended into Greater Cincinnati’s backyards, Weir, the first woman to ever lead the organization, jumped into action and started a week early.
“United Way is uniquely positioned to lead a community-wide response and recovery effort,” she said. “This is why we exist. We not only can bring the 140 agencies under our umbrella together, but we have connections to other agencies, businesses, governments, donors and others who can help. We can bring everyone together to ensure a unified response, recovery and revitalization.”
Weir was chosen as United Way’s new President and CEO this year, following a nationwide search by a highly diverse search committee comprised of leaders from the community, social service agencies and businesses, The search included a large pool of prospective candidates from nonprofit, corporate and public institutions.
Since 2007, Weir had led Hamilton County Job and Family Services (JFS), an organization that helps hundreds of thousands of Hamilton County families and children each year.
“This transition is an opportunity for me to continue my work around financial sustainability for families, but on a broader, more regional scale,” Weir said. “I’m now leading an organization with more than 100 years of service to the community. I am passionate about this work. Once we lead the COVID-19 recovery and revitalization, you’ll find me out in the region listening, learning and engaging stakeholders, donors and community partners as we develop a pathway forward.”
Barbara Turner, search committee member, vice chair and chair elect of the United Way Board, said Weir’s 27 years of service at JFS played a major role in her selection.
“Moira’s commitment to community, diversity and servant leadership, paired with her ability to make a measurable impact, uniquely qualify her to lead United Way as we evolve our role and enhance our impact in the community,” said Turner, president and COO of Ohio National Financial Services.
Weir, who started as a frontline Children’s Services worker at Job and Family Services 27 years ago, rose through the ranks to ultimately lead the organization for the past 12 years. As director of the agency, she was responsible for a multitude of programs, including food, cash and medical assistance, publicly funded childcare, child and adult protection, child support and employment assistance. Job and Family Services has more than 900 employees and a $2.1 billion annual budget.
Weir has been an advocate for innovation and change management at JFS. During her tenure as director, the agency received awards for 16 different innovative programs from the National Association of Counties.
“Moira is the right person at the right time to lead United Way,” said Ozie Davis, president of Ozie Davis & Associates. “She is an authentic, compassionate and enlightened leader, engaged with the community and the people United Way serves. I trust that Moira’s experiences will take United Way to new heights as we address the plague of poverty and redefine best practice strategies for social service delivery.”
David Taylor, chairman, president and CEO at Procter & Gamble, said, “The board has made an excellent choice. Moira is highly respected in the community, and I look forward to working with her on United Way’s 2020 Community Fundraising Campaign.”
John F. Barrett, chairman, president and CEO, Western & Southern Financial Group, also weighed in.
“An inspired choice,” he said. “She is comfortable working with anyone, from the business community to the clients served by United Way. Moira is just what is needed at this unique time in United Way’s storied history.”
Weir succeeds Ross Meyer, who led the organization as interim CEO for the last year before moving on.
“Ross deserves the thanks of the entire community for his leadership of United Way,” said Steve Shifman, president and CEO of Michelman and chairman of the board of United Way of Greater Cincinnati. “He effectively kept the organization moving forward, led a highly successful fundraising campaign and continued to make a profound difference in the lives of the more than 330,000 people United Way touches.”
Weir joins United Way as the organization takes bold, new steps to address poverty. More than 100,000 families in United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s 10-county, three-state service area are living in poverty. That includes 1 in 3 children. United Way recently changed the way it invests in partner organizations to focus even more on children and families in poverty and launched a first-of-its-kind collaboration with partners across the region to create stronger, faster change for these families.
“COVID-19 is only going to exacerbate the problem,” Weir said. “It is vital for our organization to be at the forefront of the response because we can bring everyone to the table.”
One of her first acts as President/CEO was to partner with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and create a COVID-19 Regional Response Fund, with United Way initially contributing $500,000. She also made sure the organization’s partner agencies had the resources they needed to respond by offering a one-month advance on allocations.
“These are the boots on the ground, the agencies our community trusts,” she said. “One thing we want to make sure is that our relief efforts are going directly to those who need it and the agencies they know and believe in.”
Weir said her tenure started uniquely, but it allowed a first-hand look at the power of the United Way.
“The staff is so committed to helping this community and to the partner agencies,” she said. “It has been very impressive to see everyone pull together and improve the situation on a daily basis. United Way clearly has the power to unify and impact beyond any one entity.”
United Way is located at 2400 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45202. For more information call 513.762.7100 or visit www.uwgc.org.