Chief Executive Celebrated for Leading the Fight Against Bay Area Poverty.

San Francisco, CA, USA (November 14, 2014) — Anne Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of United Way of the Bay Area, was honored as a Most Admired CEO at the San Francisco Business Times gala awards dinner on Wednesday. This prestigious event honored the great leadership, vision and values of eleven San Francisco executives.

“The Most Admired CEOs Awards program is an opportunity to recognize the work and contributions of CEOs that make the Bay Area such a special place to live and work,” said Mary Huss, publisher of the San Francisco Business Times.

Wilson is recognized for transforming United Way of the Bay Area from a community fundraiser into a leader in the fight against poverty. United Way of the Bay Area runs five poverty-fighting programs across seven Bay Area counties, and touches the lives of hundreds of thousands each year. In 2010, the organization declared a goal to cut Bay Area poverty in half by 2020.

“We’ve reinvented ourselves, brought in new partners and aligned everything we do to create pathways out of poverty,” said Wilson.

The Chief Executive first joined United Way of the Bay Area more than thirty years ago while she was completing her master’s degree at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. Wilson became the organization’s first female Chief Executive Officer in 2000, and for the last nine years she’s been named one of San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women.

Also honored at the 2014 Most Admired CEO Awards were the following executives:

Regis Kelly, QB3
Bonnie Anderson, Veracyte
Larry Baer, San Francisco Giants
George John, Rocket Fuel
Alan Johnson, BevMo
Tom Lee, M.D., One Medical Group
Alex Mehran Sr., Sunset Development
Kim Popovits, Genomic Health
Hemant Shah, RMS
Julie Wainwright, The RealReal

About United Way of the Bay Area
United Way of the Bay Area is a nonprofit organization, leading a movement to cut Bay Area poverty in half by 2020. We’re harnessing the collective power of nonprofits, government, corporations, labor and thousands of individuals to create change through giving, advocating, and volunteering. Every year, our programs – SparkPoint, Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, 211, MatchBridge and Community Schools – help more than 250,000 Bay Area residents. We connect people to food and shelter, put people back to work, bring tax dollars back to our community, help youth succeed in school and in the workplace, and move people toward financial stability. Founded in 1922, United Way of the Bay Area serves Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Solano Counties. For more information, visit http://www.uwba.org.

Media Contact:
Erica Johnson
415-808-4308
ejohnson@uwba.org