Campaign Cabinet 101: What Is It?

Workplace campaign season is in full swing! Learn about the faces behind UWECI’s dedicated community volunteers: the 2020 Campaign Cabinet.

United Way of East Central Iowa (UWECI) fights for the education, health, and financial stability of every person. To fulfill our mission, we can’t do our work alone. East Central Iowa has a community full of leaders who are willing to step up and help us because they believe in the cause. When it comes to our annual campaign, we are honored to work with a group of men and women we call the campaign cabinet.

The Campaign Cabinet is a diverse group of volunteers who represent many professional fields in Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, and Linn counties. Members are selected for expertise within their sector, representation of a variety of donor segments, and involvement in the community. Each member is a goodwill ambassador for the campaign within their own organizations’ campaigns, as well as in the greater community. The campaign cabinet’s overall objective is to support UWECI’s mission of uniting the caring power of communities to invest in effective solutions, which, in turn, will improve people’s lives through supporting the work of the annual campaign.

This year’s cabinet is lead by chair James Klein, President of Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, and vice chair Kari Cooling, Senior VP and Market Leader at Holmes Murphy & Associates. Klein, who has been involved with United Way for numerous years, looks forward to leading this year’s annual campaign.

“I was born in Cedar Rapids, I live in Cedar Rapids, and I plan to be in Cedar Rapids for a long time. I love this area. I also see that we can do so much more to help those in a rough spot or a tough situation in our area,” Klein said. “I feel honored to be able to help those that need a helping hand at tough points in their lives. If we all do our part, we can all prosper.”

Each cabinet member is committed to our mission and can connect us with other leaders in the community. They help us tell our story and work within companies to raise funds to support our efforts. Their tireless efforts to make our community stronger are commendable, and we cannot do the work of funding solutions without them.

Throughout campaign season, we will be spotlighting additional members of our campaign cabinet. Stay tuned to learn more about them and why they choose to support UWECI!