“I think what really intrigued me about this position was its impact and the ability to make a difference at the Dane County level. United Way really stands to be a catalyst for positive social change to establish a collective impact as they advance family well-being in Dane County,” Areli Estrada tells Madison365. “I really enjoy the strategy of it … engaging in sustainable, long-term work on systems change.”
Estrada has recently joined the United Way of Dane County as director of community impact, healthy communities. The United Way of Dane County has been a prominent organization in Madison for more than a century, partnering with “local nonprofits, businesses, community leaders, donors and volunteers to create solutions that address the most complex challenges that no single person or organization can solve alone.”
“What I like about the United Way is that they have a very clear focus on education, income, and health, and they really model equitable, anti-racist practices through all of the work,” Estrada says. “So that includes investments, partnerships, innovation, public policy, and advocacy. They really strive to cultivate a stronger nonprofit ecosystem through trust-based collaboration. That’s something new that they have pivoted to and there’s a lot of value in that for me, personally, because there are so many non-profits in Dane County.
“I think the United Way aligns with my personal values, the collective action and collaboration and all of that is really to create positive community change, and that’s just been ingrained in me since early on,” she adds.
Estrada says that she wants to use her new position at United Way to deepen cross-sector collaboration.
“Collaboration is big. It takes a whole entire community, so I love that collaborative piece,” Estrada says. “At the United Way, we engage with community voices, we raise awareness of local issues, and align shared resources and drive overall collective impact.”
Estrada is now leading and supporting initiatives that strengthen community health in her new position. “We all know that health disparities exist, and we are working hard to address them and improve health outcomes,” she says. “I manage the health portfolio of agencies. We have investments that include mental health and behavioral health.
“We’re trying to improve those health outcomes to have healthier communities, especially in our communities of color,” she continues. “We invest in agencies that are committed to health equity. With this job, I get to manage a portfolio of health. For me, health equity is something I’m very passionate about and that’s why this role really aligned with my former experience.”
Prior to her job with United Way, Estrada was the executive director of Affordable Dental Care, a bilingual non-profit dental clinic here in Madison dedicated to providing quality and compassionate care to the uninsured and underinsured.
“I’ve been in Madison since 2016, and I really got to be involved with community engagement. I love building community, and I’ve learned a lot,” Estrada says. “My capstone project was with UW Extension, and the mission of UW Extension is around collective action. And then during my time at UW-Madison, in my grad program, I really got to learn about the nonprofits in Dane County and about many of the community needs. But then at the clinic, I started learning more about health equity. And that’s when I started getting more involved with trying to improve health outcomes in communities that are traditionally underserved.”
Estrada was born in Nayarit, Mexico, and her family emigrated to Los Angeles when she was just seven years old. She says that “many of my lived experiences help me with my current job.”
“Watching my own parents as immigrants, navigating the health care system, seeing systemic racism, all of these things, have had an effect on me,” she says. “I bring lived experiences to this role, having seen people close to me navigate and break through those barriers. I can now bring that knowledge. But most importantly, I bring empathy and understanding.”
Estrada has just passed her two-month anniversary at United Way.
“What I love most about this job is that United Way mobilizes the caring power,” she says. “So there are so many caring people in our community, and that’s what I’ve witnessed and seen in all these years that I’ve been here.
“Everyone who works at United Way is very intentional in really mobilizing. So we mobilize the caring power of our community so all can thrive,” Estrada adds. “So that’s what I like the most, that we all come together. Everyone who’s there, we’re there for that common goal, to really mobilize so our entire community can thrive. I love that because that’s what we need the most right now.”
Estrada is already looking at some short-term and long-term goals in her new position.
“I am responsible for leading a health delegation. That’s huge. It’s going to really influence what the new RFP [request for proposal] of investments is going to look like for 2027 and over the next five years. That’s one of my biggest responsibilities,” she says. “I’m really excited that I’ll be working with health experts around those things to educate each other about the health issues and needs county-wide. I really look forward to that …. learning more from health experts and updating and reassessing the health mobilization plan, and convening a health delegation.
“That’s what is going to determine where we are going to invest the dollars for health,” she adds. “Working on projects like this really makes me look forward to coming into work every day. It’s very impactful work.”
