Episode 120 | Sue Parks, President & CEO, Orange County United Way

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Sue Parks, the President and CEO of Orange County United Way. Parks has a long history with Orange County United Way, having served as a board member and a founding member of the Orange County United Way’s Women’s Philanthropy Fund. Prior to leading Orange County United Way, Parks was an executive at several Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies such as US West, Gateway, and Kinko's. She has also had experience as an entrepreneur for many years, bringing a very well rounded perspective to serving the needs of Orange County.

Under her leadership, the nonprofit organization has launched three key initiatives (United to End Homelessness, United for Financial Security, and United for Student Success), which tackle the Orange County community’s most critical issues and seek to provide long-term solutions that break cycles of inequity. Parks also spearheaded the organization's acquisition of 2-1-1 Orange County (211OC), an essential service that connects thousands of the community's most vulnerable residents with health and human service resources via a free, 24-hour emergency contact center (over 500,000 contacts last year alone).

An excellent episode on filling gaps in the community with Sue. Here are some other takeaways from the interview:

• The importance of taking a research-driven approach to identifying needs and solutions
• Focusing on prevention as a strategy when it comes to homelessness
• "Sparkpoint" and a collaboration with United Way of San Diego County
• The answers to the rapid-fire questions.

An excellent interview from a passionate gap minder. Thank you, Sue, for your contributions to helping humanity and for joining us on The Gap Minders.

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