Metro United Way's new leader pushes equity in philanthropy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A local nonprofit that supports more than 100 charitable organizations is prioritizing its donors' dollars in a new way thanks in part to a new leader.

Metro United Way named Adria Johnson as its new president and CEO last July. Johnson is the first black woman to hold the position in the organization's 104-year-history.

"We haven't been an opportunity for smaller organizations led by Black, indigenous and people of color to have access to this investment," Johnson said. "Despite good intentions, we are a product of systems in place for a long time that have just not been an equitable opportunity."

Johnson is driving a shift in Metro United Way's gifting, from a community chest to a trust-based philanthropy model. She says it prioritizes impact and capabilities over arduous grant applications steeped in data.

It's welcomed news to Rose Smith, founder the Academy of Child Entrepreneurship or A.C.E. project.

In a once abandoned home at the corner of 25th Street and Standard Avenue in Louisville's Park Hill neighborhood, she runs the small nonprofit in honor of her son Cory "ACE" Crowe who was killed at that intersection in 2014.

"I tell everybody I'm just working with the hand I was dealt," Smith said. "We teach them business management. We do business plans and they launch their product."

Smith now has a wall full of teen CEOs helping them build their own businesses as an alternative to falling into the city recent surge in youth violence. Louisville set homicide records two years in a row. Last year, 188 people died by homicide, 24 of them were under 17 according to Louisville Metro Police.

"Funding has not been easy," Smith said. " It has been tough. I have been turned down a lot."

Smith jokingly says her organization has an annual budget of $70,000 funded by "Grace and Mercy."

Part of the struggle is she's not even a staff of one. It's all volunteer-based making grant application process often times too cumbersome and time-consuming to attempt especially if there's little to no chance of receiving the award.

"I don't have the expertise to do that," Smith admits. "I'm very hopeful, I know change is coming and I believe with (Johnson) leading she is probably able to look through a different lens."

This organization is the hub for fundraising in Kentuckiana, granting millions in donor dollars to more than a hundred nonprofits each year -- that impacts thousands of people.

The new way of giving coincides with a windfall of cash for Metro United Way. In 2020, Metro United Way received a $20 million gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, its largest single donation in the nonprofit's history.

"We are shifting our entire investment process to put priority on those organizations most impoverished, to place emphasis on supporting those smaller organizations so a much bigger portion of the United Way pie will follow suit," Johnson said.

Smith already received a $20,000 United Way gift. She's using it to help her teen CEOs with seed money to launch their businesses. Clothing designers, jewelry makers and a baker are among the concepts launched so far.

"I'm hoping for the day where there is a level playing field for all," Smith said.

The United Way started a Black Love Fund to advance its effort to address equity in philanthropic giving. The first million dollars has been awarded to 19 nonprofits and half of them were first time recipients.

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