CEO

Legends in Leadership

By Al Condeluci, Ph.D., CEO
The Voice, June 2006

As I look back on the work we have done at UCP in building a community where each belongs I am so humbled and thankful for the commitment and hard work of so many dedicated stakeholders. Our staff, families, board members, community members, fellow human service partners and political leaders have all been critical to the full participation agenda we are still promoting.

For this column of the Voice, however, I want to single out one key constituency, our Board of Directors, to acknowledge and thank for their time and efforts. Often board members go unnoticed, or are perceived to be limited in their role.

Over the years UCP has been blessed to have a strong and supportive board. In fact, that very first year for me at UCP, 1973, was the first year of board membership for Mrs. Irene Nelson. Today, Irene stands as our longest serving UCP board member, 34 years. It is fitting that in this role she is now our “Legacy Member” and will be honored for this distinction at our Annual Meeting. It is in fact poetic that when I became the Executive Director in 1991, Irene Nelson became my first board president to work with. She has been teaching me ever since.

Of course, acknowledgement of the UCP Board would not be viable without paying homage to our UCP icons, Mrs. Gertrude Labowitz, Mr. Eugene Cohen and Mr. Frank Bolden.

Mrs. Labowitz, for whom the agency lifetime achievement award is named, founded UCP with some other inspired parents in 1950. By 1951, Mrs. Labowitz and her colleagues launched UCP as a free standing nonprofit agency. All in all, Mrs. Labowitz left several great legacies among many other things. One, she founded us and her dream for a better community lives on. Two, she served as the first female president of the UCP Board of Directors. And three, she recruited Eugene Cohen to the Board in 1953.

Eugene Cohen, of course, is now legendary in the history of UCP. He not only served as the longest board member (52 years) but he also served as president of the Board, delegate to the national UCP, president of the UCP of PA Board, andfinance chair. Gene Cohen, like his predecessor, Gertrude Labowitz also left a powerful lasting impression. He recruited Frank Bolden to the Board in 1966, be brought Fred Enck to UCP in 1970 and in 1978 recruited a young banker to the Board by the name of Doug Sherratt. All of these actions paid huge dividends.

If ever there was a Pittsburgh icon it was Frank Bolden. His personal and community contributions were amazing. As a reporter he interviewed – are you ready for this – Gandhi, Douglas MacArthur, Josh Gibson, Dr. Martin Luther King and many other people who are now immortal.

Board legends include Katie Everette Johnson, the first African American female member who came on in 1974, along with Tom Kearney and Evelyn Stypula, the first board members with disabilities (1973) set the tone for an entirely upgraded board experience. Beyond this, consider these incredible volunteers and their terms as president during Fred’s tenure:

Fr. James Aaron 1970-72
Martin Jacobs 1972-74
John Clingerman 1974-76
Dr. George Bentz 1976-78
Morton Myers 1978-80
Frank Hoist 1980-82
Glen Willard 1982-84
Ed Lawrence 1984-86
Frank Hoist 1986-88
Dr. Cheryl Steczack 1988-90.

When I had the privilege, in 1991, to be named UCP Executive Director it was my good fortune to learn from Mrs. Irene Nelson, who served as board president from 1990 to 1992. Next came Doug Sherratt and the lessons I learned, and continue to learn, remain invaluable. Since joining UCP in 1978, Doug has been our prime steward of the finances – one of the most critical jobs.

Perhaps the most dramatic development at UCP however, came on the presidential watch of Paul Dick. Consider his accomplishments:

The only UCP president to serve 2 consecutive terms (Frank Hoist served 2 terms, but not in succession.)
Initiated our corporate restructure into 3 interlocked boards
Led the nominations effort that brought Shirlee Porro as first president of the Foundation and Patti Constantini as first president of CLASS
Launched our first major capital campaign
Presided over our $3 million dollar Centre renovation
Initiated our largest program, the Attendant Care Program
Presided over the most dramatic fiscal growth ever. When Paul took office our budget was $5 million dollars. At the end of his term in 2002 our budget was $14 million dollars

As UCP entered the new millennium and into our next 50 years, we again were (are) fortunate to have impressive leadership in Thomas Motley, Ken Service and Dr. Carolyn Hoffman. Having been recruited by Frank Bolden, Tom Motley joined the Board in 1990. All of these folks continued the rich leadership tradition of past UCP board members.

This takes us to the present day and the leadership in all 3 UCP Corporations led ably by Dr. Wes Rohrer, Dr. Carolyn Hoffman and Ken Service. These capable folks, their vision and passion will serve us well into the future.

Without question, this agency and its continued success is tied squarely to not only the folks acknowledged in this column, but with all the UCP board members, past and present, who unselfishly give (and gave) of their time and talent to advance our mission of a full and inclusive community.

So mark June 19th – 4:00 to 6:30 on your calendar. At our 55th Annual Meeting we will salute our Board, welcome some new members and celebrate our accomplishments. As Harriet Beecher Stowe once noted – “The past, the present and the future are one – they are today.”

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