UNITED WAY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY
Conceiving the Metamorphosis of Foundation into Thought Leader

The United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley (United Way) no longer wanted to be branded mainly as a fundraising charity. Rather, it sought to elevate itself as an innovative thought leader in the minds of Bostonians.

In the face of increasingly negative indicators regarding the vulnerable populations, SM& conceived of a grassroots panel series for the United Way to engage decision makers and the general Greater Boston community to determine: “Is the American Dream Still Possible in Massachusetts?”. Working closely with United Way leadership and staff, SM& helped create and promote "Living the Dream," a multi-year panel series covering seven components of the American Dream: housing, justice, technology accessibility, diversity, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. Beyond bringing leaders together for a multifaceted dialogue, the objective was to demonstrate how thought leadership can translate into action and tangible results.

The series began with an inaugural panel from a selection of Boston's diverse leaders to convey the broad view of the issue and set the stage for the topical breakaway panels over the course of 12 months. Keynote speaker Eric Schwarz, President of Citizen Schools, greeted an audience of more than 120 Boston-area residents, and New England Cable News anchor Jim Braude moderated the panel of institutional and mission-focused presidents and chief executives. Media outreach and grassroots tactics ensured community involvement and awareness.

The inaugural panel provocatively analyzed the current state of the American Dream, spurred local media attention, gave momentum to the remaining seven panels to culminate in an action plan based on the target areas addressed, and transformed the United Way into the people's think tank of Greater Boston.

In the year that followed, SM& organized and implemented seven panels to more deeply identify the challenges and opportunities that exist in the seven issue areas identified at the inaugural event. These interactive discussions brought topical experts, ranging from Ellen Zane, President & CEO of Tufts New England Medical Center to Ian Bowles, Barry Bluestone to Bennie Wiley together with leading journalists, into deep and action-oriented conversations with audiences composed of activists, business leaders and everyday concerned citizens. Together, the community created an outline of a blueprint for change.

Armed with the sketch of the blueprint, SM& reunited several panelists from each issue area to elaborate on the identified ideas and investigate opportunities that crossed sectors. This reunion, which took place over dinner at partner organization Bank of America’s Boston office, began with an overview from a local social entrepreneur who had a successful model in line with the Dream’s proposals. At the end of the dinner, SM&’s writer had enough depth to craft a final blueprint for United Way to released back to the community that helped create it.