Mary Grissom Director of Engagement Initiatives

I'm honored to be part of and a recent graduate of Leadership Louisville Center’s Bingham Fellows program that chose "investing in West Louisville's path to prosperity" as its focus for 2014.  Because of my role at Metro United Way, I'm especially passionate about this because a huge part of this work is a project called "Early Education 40210."

The 40210 zip code, which includes the neighborhoods of Algonquin, California and Park Hill, has one of the lowest rates of kindergarten readiness in our community with only 35% of kids screened as ready for school this past year. And we know that children who start behind, tend to stay behind - leading to significant achievement gaps and challenges in graduating high school on time.

In partnership with Metro United Way, Jefferson County Public Schools and the Louisville Free Public Library, Early Education 40210 focuses on parent engagement in child development, early literacy, and quality early education and childcare settings.

Early Education 40210 efforts include:

Joe Tolan President & CEO

We hear a lot about the magic of BELIEVING during the holidays, and my message to you for the season reflects that.

At Metro United Way, we believe everyone can achieve their fullest potential through education, financial stability and healthy lives. And that success in life starts with a quality education so that kids are ready before they even set foot in a classroom. Sadly today, 47% of children in our community are behind when they enter kindergarten.

Janet L. Boyd Senior Grants Manager

Candide, a character created by the French writer Voltaire, had to travel around the world in order to discover that true happiness was to be found in his own back garden. I only had to travel as far as Nashville to be reminded that Metro United Way – right here in Kentuckiana’s own back garden – is a place where happiness begins.

While attending the Tennessee Humanities Council’s Southern Festival of Books in early October, I had the good fortune to hear Nicholas Kristof speak. Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with the New York Times who has used his talent and prominent position to help make the world a better place, was there promoting the book he and Sheryl WuDunn have just published. In A Path Appears:Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities, the authors help people who want to make a difference figure out how to navigate myriad opportunities and take risks that might pay off in ways they never imagined.