Danville-Pittsylvania County United Way president resigns

Jinks shared what he learned about Danville and its future with the Danville Register & Bee.

Q: How have you seen Danville change?

A: I feel like maybe we’ve turned the corner. We have been through what I hope are our...

Jinks shared what he learned about Danville and its future with the Danville Register & Bee.

Q: How have you seen Danville change?

A: I feel like maybe we’ve turned the corner. We have been through what I hope are our darkest days economically, and I think there’s a lot of hope and potential on the horizon and within reach. I’ve seen the conversation change around possibility and hope and expectation. I think we’re finally starting to see some visible movement, of being bold and optimistic.

Q: What have you learned here?

A: I have definitely learned that United Way doesn’t happen in the board room. It happens in the community. United Way is the community. It sounds cliché but I found that to move forward it takes relationships at all levels and...

By: Tara Bozick | GoDanRiver
Published: November 09, 2011

Patrick Jinks, president and CEO of United Way of Danville-Pittsylvania County, resigned to lead the United Way in Lancaster, Pa.

The local United Way board of directors announced the decision Wednesday in a news release. Jinks will continue through the end of December, marking 10 years as agency president.

Community leaders, board members and key stakeholders formed a team to search for a new leader. An interim director will appointed until a new president is hired.

“When United Way hired Patrick 10 years ago, we definitely selected the right leader at the right time in the history of our organization,” said board chair Jeff Liverman, who is director of Danville Science Center, in a statement. “I am confident that we will once again find the right candidate who will lead our United Way to advance the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all.”

Jinks led the organization through a difficult economic downturn and the closure of industry and large employers. During that time, United Way ensured its funding was results-based and extended its focus from programs to the community, as with the “Live United” campaign.

Under Jinks, United Way moved into downtown Danville offices and partnered with other agencies in the BEST Initiative to stabilize the financial situations of local low-income families.

United Way also recently partnered with Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and Danville Regional Foundation for the local early childhood development program Smart Beginnings Danville-Pittsylvania.

Jinks said United Way couldn’t have reached those milestones without the help of all staff, volunteers and the community.

“We’re thinking more now about the future than we are the past, and that’s important,” Jinks said.

He said there’s no better time for the next president to take the reins and that the transition should be seamless.

Bozick reports for the Danville Register & Bee.