United Way:  What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

Tse Ming: I’ve really enjoyed building new programs from the ground up – like SparkPoint – which can make a real difference in people’s lives.  Economically-disadvantaged people have such limited opportunities; usually they have only “bad choices” or “worse choices” they can make.  SparkPoint is all about providing low-wage workers and families with the opportunity to make good choices.  Bringing together all the pieces and partners to build SparkPoint has been very rewarding.  SparkPoint Oakland Center has been open for just a few months, and we’re already starting to see members take significant steps towards being more financially stable.

United Way:  What is the biggest challenge that our community is facing?

Tse Ming:  It’s no secret that the economic crisis is having a huge impact on the low-wage families in our community, especially because they were already struggling to make ends meet.  But there’s a whole new group of people who are asking for help now, and the nonprofits trying to meet the huge surge in demand are being overwhelmed.

Fortunately, some nonprofits are recognizing this as an opportunity to change and re-evaluate the way they work.   In addition to seeing families asking for help for the first-time in their lives, agencies are seeing clients whom they helped years ago returning for help, essentially having to start over.  It’s causing nonprofit organizations to rethink how they are helping clients.  They’re asking, can we provide better services so that clients can survive and endure both the ups and downs of the economy once they leave our agency?

United Way:  What is the best-kept secret about United Way?

Tse Ming: The role United Way has as a change agent – we are bringing tools and resources together to make things happen in our community.  People have a misperception that we are only giving grants.  They still learning about all of the other powerful “muscles” that we use to achieve community impact, including our role as a convener, our public policy work, and the direct service provided by our community projects.

United Way:  What do you do for fun in your spare time?

Tse Ming: I enjoy the outdoors, including camping, hiking, skiing and hang gliding.  I still want to learn how to SCUBA dive.  I also enjoy brain-challenging games, like Soduko.

Before joining United Way, Tse Ming spent more than 10 years at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, a national research, consulting and legal organization dedicated to building economic health and opportunity in vulnerable communities.  Prior to that, Tse Ming served as the director for Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization. During his tenure, CAA received President Clinton’s Community Excellence Award.

Tse Ming lives in Pinole and has resided in the Bay Area since 1983.  He is a graduate of the New College of San Francisco with a B.A. in activism and social change.

United Way: What is the best kept secret about United Way?

Aimee: While I and my team continue to build a name for United Way in the North Bay, many public agencies, companies and nonprofits are still learning about our presence and strong partnerships in Napa and Solano counties. We’re actually a leader on a number of fronts. For example, our Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program operated 23 tax sites in Solano and Napa this year returning more than $3 million dollars to the community.

United Way is also leading GO Solano! (Grant Opportunities Solano), which convenes government, nonprofit, and business leaders on a bi-weekly basis to develop collaborative proposals for drawing down stimulus funding for Solano County. Our role is to help reduce “competition” for limited funds and to build community among the various stakeholders.

We’re also building a coalition to start a Solano Volunteer Center, and approaching new businesses to help fund it. Solano is the only Bay Area county without a Volunteer Center, and it seemed like a no-brainer for United Way to try and do something about that.

One of the most important roles I play is being a neutral party. When there’s a big challenge facing the community, nonprofits and elected officials often ask United Way to lead the discussion “because you don’t have an agenda here.” So I get to be “Switzerland” and help sort through the issues. This role also helps us bring players to the table, and maintain a process that has integrity.

United Way: What do you enjoy most about your job?

Aimee: What I really enjoy most is seeing that change is possible. I love working with collaboratives and watching the reality of the outside world change because these people started talking to each other, finding resources, and changing how they do business to serve low-income communities. It’s amazing.

United Way: What inspires you?

Aimee: I’m inspired by a Jewish proverb that says, “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it” Although the problems our community faces are daunting, I know that having a job where I can spend every day working to fix those problems is a luxury. I remember that idea whenever I start to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all, that I am just one rung on a long, long ladder. I’m building on institutions and practices created by people who came before me, hopefully keeping them alive and improving them for the next generation of community workers.

United Way: What do you do for fun?

Aimee: I enjoy reading, especially mysteries (I’m loving Agatha right now) and taking bike rides with my husband and our dogs. I also love a good street fair, county fair or a long day at a museum, and spending time with my family.

Prior to joining United Way in 2007, Aimee was a Program Manager at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, where she led Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency (CFESS), a statewide policy initiative. Aimee has also held the position of Ruth Chance Law Fellow at Equal Rights Advocates, where she supervised the Legal Advice and Counseling Line, worked on gender and race employment discrimination litigation, and developed partnerships to increase the number of women in the construction trades. Aimee holds a Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and a law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.

Aimee lives in El Sobrante, in Contra Costa County. She grew up in Fresno, California and lives with her husband along with their dogs, goldfish, nine finches and many adopted outdoor cats!