United Way of Racine County introduces new positions

Jan. 13, 2020 — Five staff members at United Way of Racine County were recently promoted within the company as part of an office-wide restructuring plan. 

Ali Haigh, the new president and CEO of United Way of Racine County, created three new roles designed to simplify communication and collaboration within the office.

Former Vice President of Community Impact Karin Kirchmeier is now the chief operating officer for United Way of Racine County, and oversees the investor relations, community impact and marketing departments in this new role. She will develop key strategies and goals for these departments. Alberto Huerta, formerly the investor relations manager, now serves as the senior director of investor relations and handles the day-to-day oversight of this department, including the annual campaign. Jessica Safransky Schacht, previously the education initiatives director, will now oversee the day-to-day operations of the community impact department as the senior director of community impact. This includes United Way of Racine County’s internal initiatives, such as the Schools of Hope, Imagination Library, LIFT and VITA programs. Safransky Schacht and Huerta will report to Kirchmeier in this new structure.

“These new positions will help keep us unified as an organization,” Haigh explained. “All of our departments are working towards the goal of building an educated workforce in Racine, and this plan allows for more touch points, conversations and collaboration within the organization that will help us accomplish this goal.”

Following these changes, staff members Lori Riffer and Tracie Feest were also promoted within their respective departments. Feest, who previously served as the investor services manager, will now take on more community campaign responsibilities as the investor relations manager. Riffer, who originally joined United Way as the financial stability manager, will now oversee the day-to-day operations of United Way’s internal initiatives, which include the Schools of Hope program and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

Haigh said that the work ethic and talent of all five of these staff members greatly contributed to their promotions.

“They all possess great internal knowledge about United Way and have worked hard to prove themselves in their previous roles,” Haigh explained. “I am confident that their new responsibilities will do great things for the Racine community.”