UPO BOARD Chair and CEO Letter

UPO’s mission is to unite people with opportunities across various audiences and mechanisms. These opportunities include direct services, volunteerism, funding and governance. Through UPO, people and organizations desiring opportunities to make a positive difference and transform the lives of the region’s most impoverished residents are connected with opportunities to do so.

UPO operates on two fundamental principles--eradicating poverty and empowering residents to achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence. Several factors come into play when trying to meet and exceed this goal. UPO serves all customers who approach the organization for assistance with a variety of appropriate and available interventions ranging from long-term case management to simple referrals. Our customers and staff encounter numerous barriers that impede this journey. Therefore, we must remain cognizant of the need to evaluate and the impact of our work.

Using the Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) paradigm, UPO’s Office of Strategic Positioning conducts a thorough community needs assessment that documents individual and family needs, community level needs, and accessible resources that should not be duplicated. Annually, UPO’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership commissions the development of life-changing programs following analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data provided in the needs assessment. Throughout the year, the efficiency and effectiveness of our poverty-fighting interventions are routinely evaluated and analyzed by UPO’s Office of Performance Management within the ROMA paradigm. The information gathered in the process is then used by the Board and Executives as a guide to execute continuous improvement measures meant to improve the ability of each person served to achieve established outcomes.

Below is a high-level snapshot of UPO’s organizational performance in fiscal year 2016.