Five years ago, a diverse group of people from regional businesses, school systems and nonprofits gathered at Eaton Corporation’s Galesburg facility to talk about education, volunteerism and the future workforce. The result was United 4 Change, a collective effort supporting and inspiring students, especially in early grade reading and career mentoring.

This month, many of those people got together again at Eaton to celebrate U4C’s successes and talk about what comes next.

“We’ve seen a lot of progress over the past five years,” said Ben Nyhoff, Corporate Relations & Engagement Associate for United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region. (UWBCKR coordinates the work of United 4 Change in partnership with participating organizations.)

Among the education wins: an increase in school districts participating in early grade reading programs, from one to four, along with growth in reading proficiency; more business mentors taking part in Bigs in Business; and the shift from career day activities involving a small number of middle schools to participation in the MI Career Quest, which draws thousands of students from across the region.

“At the same time,” Nyhoff added, “the dynamics are changing. Businesses find it harder to free up employees to volunteer, especially during the work day. Workforces are constantly changing as people take new jobs, transfer elsewhere or retire. Sometimes that costs a volunteer-driven effort like U4C some of its most experienced and engaged advocates.”

At this month’s meeting, attendees encouraged United Way and the United 4 Change leadership to get business input on what they expect from U4C—from educational outcomes to specific types of volunteer opportunities.

“What we heard is that we have the right mix of focus areas—early grade reading, middle school career mentoring and high school externships,” Nyhoff said. “At the same time, we need to better understand how business changes affect what companies want or need.

“We’re also encouraged to look at tools we haven’t used in the past, such as new technologies to expose students to career paths and stronger feedback tools so we can adapt better.

“It was a fantastic dialogue that really underscores United Way’s commitment to listening, learning and changing to meet the needs in our region,” Nyhoff said.

To find out more about United 4 Change, visit the website at www.united-4-change.com, or contact Ben Nyhoff at bnyhoff@uwbckr.org or (269) 788-1131.