Keisha Browder - CEO, United Way of Santa Cruz County

As the Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Santa Cruz County, Keisha Browder has led multiple countywide initiatives focused on the building blocks of a thriving life – education, economic mobility, health, and community engagement. Keisha is an experienced nonprofit executive with a career spanning over 20 years in community development, education, youth success, and philanthropy throughout the United States. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. In addition to being part of the design team that developed the nation’s first citywide afterschool system that is replicated in several major U.S. cities, she led the nation’s longest-serving Community Assessment Project. This robust tracking of well-being is community data that includes the voice of Santa Cruz County residents. She co-authored “Leveraging Data for Meaningful Improvements: How Credible Data Enables Partnership Alignment to Achieve Well-Being at the Population Level” (Community Quality of Life Indicators Best Cases VIII, Springer). This data supports local nonprofit organizations, government, and health services as we continue to create a healthy, thriving and safe Santa Cruz County for all. Keisha also serves on several boards that reflect her values of equity, integrity, compassion, and dignity. Those boards include Bay Federal Credit Union, Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce, Santa Cruz County Health Improvement Partnership, Digital NEST Advisory, Dignity Health Dominican Hospital Community Advisory, Nonprofit Connection of Santa Cruz County Advisory, and United Way Worldwide Equity Advisory Council.