Former United Way of Santa Cruz County CEO Keisha Browder will lead the significantly larger United Way Bay Area after stepping down from her position in Santa Cruz earlier this month.
Browder will be the first Black chief executive to lead United Way Bay Area since its founding more than a century ago, according to a statement from the organization. She made similar history in Santa Cruz as the first Black woman to serve as the local United Way’s CEO.
Browder first joined United Way of Santa Cruz in 2012 as director of development and marketing before stepping into the CEO role in 2018.
Prior to her time in Santa Cruz, Browder graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in communications and had experience working with the Girl Scouts, the YMCA, and the Trident United Way in Charleston, South Carolina.
She has also served on local boards including Digital NEST, Your Future is Our Business, Monarch Services and the finance committee of Encompass Community Services.
When she was named CEO of Santa Cruz County’s United Way, the organization touted the work Browder did to establish an “Emerging Leaders Circle” of midcareer professionals, grow the United Way’s Women In Philanthropy group and develop “one of the most advanced digital giving and donor engagement platforms in the United Way movement.”
Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your press releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.
