By Staff
November 17th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Awkward time for the United Way to change leaders but Jeff Valentine will leave the Halton Hamilton United Way December 1st and take up a position at Sheridan College.
The United Way organization has found itself having to focus on its organizational structure as it goes through a change that has the Milton, Oakville, Halton Hills, Burlington and Hamilton organizations merged into a single organization for planning and program development purposes.
The first attempt at this kind of merger didn’t get the votes needed – but it was approved by all the area organizations on the second attempt.
Brad Park incoming UWHH CEO brings field level experience and a degree in business management to the job.
Known now as the United Way Halton & Hamilton, (UWHH) the their Board of Directors announced the appointment of Brad Park as the organization’s new President & Chief Executive Officer. The change in leadership comes after current CEO, Jeff Vallentin signaled his decision to leave UWHH earlier in October.
Anne Bermingham, chair of the UWHH Board of Directors
The UWHH promoted from within. Anne Bermingham, chair of the Board of Directors said “we’re grateful for the depth of leadership that has allowed us to promote from within.” Bermingham added that “Brad Park is well known across the communities served by UWHH. He is a proven executive leader in the United Way movement and he is highly regarded for his passion and his track-record of results. “
Park has been serving as Chief Development Officer in the newly amalgamated United Way Halton & Hamilton. Prior to the amalgamation, Brad served as the CEO for United Way Oakville since 2012 and brings over 23 years of leadership experience with United Ways.
Jeff Vallentin will be joining the executive team at Sheridan College and his last day at United Way will be Friday, December 1, 2017.
The merger of the organizations has been disruptive. Park has a major task ahead of him to ensure that the badly needed programs run efficiently and that the needs of the tens of thousands of people the United Way serves continue to be met.
A point of contention when the five organizations were merged was that all funds raised through United Way in a community are dedicated to the people in that community: easier said than done.
