Welcome to the Texas United Conference! We’re excited to have you here. To help you make the most of your experience, be sure use this web app as your go-to guide. You’ll find the full conference schedule to help plan your days, detailed session descriptions and speaker bios highlighting the leaders and experts joining us.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Check- in & Registration, Room: Registration D
2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Open Plenary: UWW John Farden, Room: A & B
3:45 - 4:30 p.m. Fast Friends
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Welcome Reception Sponsored by United Way of Greater Austin
7:45 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast & Plenary
9:00 - 10:15 a.m. Learning Sessions
Coming soon!
This session is designed for executive directors and CEOs who want to elevate their boards from well-intentioned to truly high-performing. Participants will explore the critical board chair–executive partnership, what makes board meetings strategic rather than transactional, and how CEO evaluation can be used as a tool for clarity and accountability. The session will also cover the core policies and governance processes every board needs to support strong oversight, shared leadership, and long-term organizational success.
Speaker: Emily Lavin, Texas Rural Funders
Collecting and using meaningful local data begins with clear goals, the right mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, and intentional community engagement. By pairing “small data” insights with big-data trends, participants will learn how to move beyond raw numbers to develop actionable strategies that address local needs and drive improvement and innovation. Participants will also explore practical examples of how to track data trends and use data to inform decision-making within their organizations and communities.
Speaker: Colton Strawser, Colton Strawser Consulting
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Learning Sessions
Coming soon!
Coming soon!
Coming soon!
11:45 - 12:00 p.m. Break
12:00 - 1:15 p.m. Lunch & Building Partnerships that Last: A Conversation with Corporate Leaders
1:15 - 1:30 p.m. Break
1:30 - 2:15 p.m. Fast Friends
2:15 - 3:00 p.m. Coffee Break
3:00 - 4:15 p.m. Afternoon Learning Sessions
211s and Information & Referral (I&R) centers sit at the front lines of community need. Across the country, 211 teams are managing rising call, text, and chat volume; increasingly complex client situations; fragmented data systems; and growing expectations around care coordination, follow-up, and SDOH reporting, often with limited staff and funding.
This session is intentionally designed as a facilitated working session rather than a presentation about a specific software platform or vendor solution.
The session will function as a facilitated meeting of the minds. Participants will work collectively to identify a small number of common, real-world challenges that 211s regularly encounter across programs such as disaster response, housing, utilities, and food assistance. These challenges may include high-volume intake, need for after hours services, scheduling bottlenecks, closed-loop referrals, language access, or time spent on manual processes.
Once shared challenges are identified, the facilitator will guide the group through a structured, problem-first exercise. Together, participants will walk through how technology could help address these issues, starting with the problem rather than a pre-selected solution. The group will explore what an ideal process might look like, what tasks could be streamlined, what should remain human-centered, and how technology can reduce friction without disrupting service delivery.
The session will also create space for open discussion about real-world constraints such as data privacy, staff capacity, funding, trust, and implementation challenges. The goal is not to arrive at a single answer, but to learn from one another and build shared understanding.
Participants will leave with new ways of thinking about technology, a repeatable framework for collaborative problem-solving, and practical ideas they can bring back to their agencies.
The emphasis is on making technology work for information & referral, not the other way around.
Navigating federal, state, and private funding can feel like a maze—especially nonprofit staff and volunteers new to grant writing. In this session, Kelty Garbee and Evan Wolstencroft will introduce "Power Your Proposal: A Smart Structure for Grant Writing Success", a practical guide designed to help rural nonprofit leaders understand the funding landscape, get organized, and confidently apply for grants.
This ALICE 2.0 session will focus on how you can move along the impact continuum with ALICE data and research. With awareness and education are the starting point, how do you move ALICE into action? This session will show how the ALICE data can drive community impact, public policy, and strategic planning. With examples from across our ALICE partners, we will share examples of partnerships and programs with companies, credit unions, utilities, community colleges, transportation agencies, and public policy wins.
4:15 - 4:30 p.m. Break
4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Networking Reception at Cinco's
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast + Young Adults in the Age of AI: Labor Market Challenges and Opportunities, Anna Crockett (Ballroom A & B)
The majority of research on artificial intelligence and its effect on work estimates that AI will have the greatest effect on college-educated workers and those with high incomes. But how might AI affect so-called good jobs, those that don’t require bachelor’s degrees but still pay self-sustaining wages? And how should those seeking these good jobs think about AI and ready themselves for any changes to these jobs?
9:15 - 9:45 a.m. Diversifying Revenue Panel, Haley Chambers & Kristin Jones (Ballroom A & B)
This panel will focus on revenue diversification, with a specific focus on cause marketing. We’ll discuss cause marketing at the national level while also highlighting ways local United Ways can activate it on their own. The session will also cover market trends and research.
10:00 - 10:45 a.m. ALICE in Disaster, Stephanie Hoopes (Ballroom A & B)
This ALICE 2.0 session will focus on how you can move along the impact continuum with ALICE data and research. With awareness and education are the starting point, how do you move ALICE into action? This session will show how the ALICE data can drive community impact, public policy, and strategic planning. With examples from across our ALICE partners, we will share examples of partnerships and programs with companies, credit unions, utilities, community colleges, transportation agencies, and public policy wins.
10:45 - 11:55 a.m. How to Prepare for Any Disruption/ Disaster Working Session (Ballroom A & B)
11:55 - 12:00 p.m. Closing Remarks, Roxanne Jones (Ballroom A & B)