March 23, 2022
Congratulations CFD Award Winners
Each year, the Sno-King and UW Combined Fund Drive campaigns make a call for nominations to recognize volunteers who go above and beyond in their efforts to make the campaign a success.
Our final campaign numbers are available in the 2021 Campaign Report.
Volunteers are nominated by their peers, supervisors, campaign leaders or campaign assistants and the winners are determined by a vote of the Sno-King CFD Advisory Committee.
While every volunteer is deserving of special recognition, the following were nominated and a select few were chosen to receive an award for their work on the 2021 campaign.
2021 Volunteer Award Categories and Nominees
*Award winners indicated in bold.
The Innovative Event Award is presented annually to campaign volunteers who demonstrate exemplary outreach and innovation in planning and executing CFD campaign events. This year’s campaign presented a variety of challenges, and these coordinators rose to the occasion.
- Jim Becker (UW) – Halloween Happenings
- Fran Kwak (UW HMC) – Harborview Medical Center Chance Auction
- Diane Branczeisz, Kiara Elliott and Kimberly Jaehne (UW) – Stay Home Movie Night
- Alberto Lacao, Jr., Joseph Lavy, Genevieve LeClerc, Jennifer Mallahan, Erin Mercer and Adrienne Tam (UW) – UWHR House of Kindness
This first time online event promoted LIHI (Low Income Housing Institute) with the goal of contributing enough money to fund a tiny house. This event stood out for its innovation and generosity. It all started with one person saying they would donate $1 for every kind message someone posted about a colleague on Teams. Soon the messages were pouring in, demonstrating the level of gratitude each HR employee felt for those around them. As the messages continued another employee, inspired by the words, also pledged to match the $1 donation then another and another until every dollar donated to LIHI equaled four. The UWHR team came together to not only support each other but also to support the community. This event together with a final fundraising push on Giving Tuesday – and with a few more matching gifts – helped UWHR raise over $4,000 for LIHI, enough to build a tiny house.
The Outstanding Team Award is presented annually to a group of CFD volunteers that demonstrates exemplary teamwork while promoting and educating employees about the benefits of giving through the CFD.
- Diane Branczeisz, Cameron Daniel-Smith, Sally Dee, Kiara Elliott, Silvia Farah, Melissa Hall, Kimberly Jaehne, Anne Lawson, Heather Nicholson, Ann Sarna, John Whitney and Scot Winn – UW Finance & Administration
- Andy Huang and Anne Roquemore – UW Information Technology
- Amber Jeffries, Stephanie Schuster, LeAnna Tartaglia and Kristine Wegener – UW Medicine IT Services
These rookie coordinators hit the ground running like seasoned pros! While participating in other events, UW-IT hosted two of their own. These events allowed the IT department to connect as a team and raise money. They opened their events to the whole UW community helping build connections across teams. Win – Win! Andy and Anne’s events used the UWCFD to unite people together by giving them opportunities to engage with the people around them while also raising money for the larger community. They also assisted in a coat drive ROOTS, a local young adult shelter. Throughout the campaign, Anne and Andy were on top of things. Their events also helped spread the word about the UWCFD through UW-IT and all around campus as they allowed all departments to join them to support LIHI.
The Dean Speer Award for Excellence honors longtime UW employee, retiree and UW Combined Fund Drive campaign assistant Dean Speer, who has been a champion of the program and an advocate for employee giving going back decades. It is awarded to a volunteer who displays the attributes of enthusiasm, professionalism, positivity, outstanding service, commitment to, and passion for, the Combined Fund Drive.
- Phillip Buff, UW DEOHS
- Jim Becker, UW iSchool
Jim made it a goal to run a successful campaign and to raise the money it would take to build a Tiny House – and that is what the iSchool accomplished. Ultimately, Jim and the iSchool were able to raise over $4,885 for LIHI blowing their goal of $4,200 out of the water. He was able to really ignite a passion in folks and encourage them to make a difference no matter the size. He did a great job engaging folks interested in the campaign especially in this crazy time where folks are in a hybrid or remote setting. He adapted well to a virtual campaign and was open to any ideas to accomplish the goal of a Tiny House of raising enough money to build a tiny house. It is a large accomplishment for one department to have raised the funds for an entire house especially when the UW as a whole raised 10 homes.
The Spirit of Service Award is presented annually to veteran CFD coordinators who have gone the extra mile during the Combined Fund Drive campaign. Each campus or agency nominates its best and brightest coordinators who have helped make the CFD campaign a success.
- Brooke Emrich, UW School of Medicine, Laboratory & Pathology
- Diana Knight, UW Department of Chemistry
- Jacinda Luna, UW Tower
Diana is always willing to help and offer advice from her eight years of serving as a coordinator. One of the best thing about Diana’s campaign is how organized it is. She scheduled out time every week for her to plan for the campaign. This included time for her to send a weekly reminder of all the UWCFD events and updated information. Her organization and enthusiasm helped move participation in her department from 22% to 26% – a 4% increase! These goals were achieved with weekly communication, events, and the initiative of Diana talk to members of her department about the UWCFD.
The Exemplary Leadership Award is presented to managers who demonstrate leadership and creatively employ best practices and facilitate an effective CFD campaign.
- Mindy Kornberg & Kimberly Mishra, UW Human Resources
- Melissa Kreptul, UW Advancement
- Lisa McCarthy, DSHS Workfirst Program
- Adam Serafin, UW HUB
As soon as CFD kickoff the fundraising for this season, Lisa started sharing information and talking about this at every all staff meeting. She announced the campaign during each staff meeting or emails out to the office to invite others join and participate in the campaign. An active leader, Lisa was cheerful, persuasive, open minded, flexible, a great communicator AND she has lots of empathy and resilience. Lisa invited and encouraged everyone to join, volunteer and celebrate and she was successful rallying her small office. She set a high bar to see how much they could accomplish. They donated $300 worth of toys, $300 in cash, and about 25 pounds of candies to Birthday Dreams – the charity of their choice for this year.
The Rookie of the Year award is given annually to new CFD coordinators who have gone the extra mile during the Combined Fund Drive campaign. Each agency or campus nominates its best and brightest coordinators who have helped make the campaign a success.
- Matthew Brinton, UWMC Advancement
- Quyen Huynh, DSHS Aging & Long-term Services Administration
- Stephanie Shuster, UW Medicine IT Services
- Christine Wee, UW School of Dentistry
Quyen was eager to assume the local coordinator role and she brought an enthusiasm and desire to do a good job to the role. She asked questions, took trainings and availed herself of the supports from both DSHS and CFD campaign managers. She just wanted to do a great job – which made her so valuable to the DSHS overall campaign, her manager and her fellow workers.
Stephanie led her team connecting to the community and the campaign. She led a superbly planned and well-executed five-week community engagement outreach plan, that had three prongs – volunteering, supply drives, and cash donations – mostly using virtual coin jars for targeted charities. Over the course of her campaign she coordinated 25 events supporting 25 nonprofits, and raising $18,311 and nearly 200 hours of volunteer time.
UWB/UWT Spirit of Philanthropy Award
UW Bothell & UW Tacoma have a long-standing competition between their two campuses. Since 2008, the campuses have competed for the highest percent of participation and most dollars raised. UW Tacoma has held on to the trophy for the last four years.
UW Bothell is the 2021 winner, reclaiming the title by raising $49,206 and moving their participation rate up to 13%!
To all of our nominees, congratulations on a very well earned recognition, and thank you all for your tremendous work this year.
