“Roz isn’t a statistic,” says Ms. Rosalyn who, like her daughter, Roz, is a single mother of five children. “People don’t expect us to succeed, but my baby did.” Roz’s kids play in the background while Ms. Rosalyn talks about Roz’s successes. “Every day I tell her she’s a beautiful strong black woman. Every day.”

Too many of our community members have uphill battles advancing their employment prospects. However, we strive to enact improvements in our community so that everyone can have opportunities to thrive. Roz’s resilience propelled her, and her trust in her support network empowered her to achieve her goals. Read her story. One of them was to become a teacher for the Anchorage School District.

Not long ago, Roz needed to take her teaching credentialing exams, but the costs were prohibitive. Thanks to one of her friends posting on X (formerly Twitter), community members helped cover Roz’s expenses. She says, “My community keeps cheering me on.”

This support encourages people and meets their personal needs. However, we have more work to do to level playing fields. Anyone who wants to improve their education, financial stability and health deserves reliable, fair structures in place to enable their attempts.

We met Roz in the late summer of 2023. We were evaluating our community impact agenda and considering areas of concentration. Roz attended a community member convening over the course of several weeks, co-hosted by the Alaska Humanities Forum.

During those meetings, people shared their lived experiences, highlighting the challenges they’ve faced. They brainstormed ideas Anchorage could promote that would benefit everyone in our community. Our United Way of Anchorage team listened closely, valued their recommendations and used their insights to propose updates to our efforts.

“Having mentors, advocates and people you relate with helps a lot,” Roz notes. She identifies herself as being a motivated, out-spoken and cool young woman—and her interactions and conversational style confirm Roz is assessing herself accurately. “Sometimes you have to look to find it,” she says. “The more people who are willing to take on those roles, the sooner we can make life better for everyone.”

This approach defines our work. We evaluate local needs, engage people to identify solutions and work alongside organizations that advance meaningful change. Together, we’re building a diverse, vibrant community where everyone can reach their potential. Those actions summarize United Way yesterday, today and tomorrow.

“We’re in a different time,” says Roz. “We don’t have to look like everyone else. We just need passion, resolve and systems that work for—not against—us.” United Way agrees, Roz. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

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