a community honors its philanthropic leaders
"Self-interest well understood"are the words of Alexis de Tocqueville that W. Thomas Dugard Jr. uses to describe the message he wants to bring to Kansas City. The newly elected president of the Heart of America United Way says that by promoting the interest of the community, we promote our own self-interest.
Dugard began promoting the interest of the community starting in Memphis in 1976 as a "lowly campaign associate" in the local United Way, and he has worked his way up to serve as the top executive of United Way organizations in Enid, Oklahoma, Kalamazoo, Mich., and St. Joseph, Mo. He comes to Kansas City after serving as president of the Triangle United Way in North Carolina, bringing with him more than 25 years of human-services experience. He replaces the retired Al Sassone, who presided over a record-setting $39.6 million fundraising campaign in Kansas City last year.
"I will have to see what fruit there is left to be harvested,"Dugard says of his new responsibilities.
He also wants to educate the community that the needy are not needy by choice, but because they have been hit with one of life's challenges that can happen to any of us. Even in times of economic downturn, such a philosophical view spurs charitable giving, he says.
Dugard received his bachelor's degree in communications at what was then Memphis State, and went on to earn his master's in western Michigan. "I can't stop going to school," he says. "Everywhere I go, I have to be at school either as a student or a teacher." He has lectured at universities both in Michigan and North Carolina, and he sees a second career, after United Way, in teaching. ÒI think it's important for people to share what they've learned in life," he says. It's a self-interest well understood.