UNCA News

UNCA and the Alliance for Children and Families have named a new vice president for public policy. Katherine Astrich will be based at the joint public policy office in Washington D.C. She begins her new role on June 4.

After an extensive search process, Astrich was selected because of her experience and strong passion for the missions and values of the Alliance and UNCA. She started her career with Voice for America's Children, advising member organization on children's health care policy. She also spent eight years at the Office of Management and Budget, the largest component of the Executive Office of the President. In that role, she lead a department focused on regulatory and economic analysis of Head Start, nutrition programs, Medicaid, SCHIP and immigration. She has worked closely with the White House, Administration for Children and Families, USDA and Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Most recently, Astrich served as a senior consultant at Lewin Group, a national health care and human services consulting firm.

Astrich received a master’s in public policy from Duke University and a bachelor’s in government and psychology from the University of Virginia.

UNCA has been invited to participate in the Starbucks Community Card: Vote.Give.Grow. program in recognition of our effectiveness in helping communities thrive. Through this program, the Starbucks Foundation will give away $4 million to 120 community-focused organizations around the country, each hand-picked to participate. Learn more about the program here.

We encourage all Starbucks patrons to support community-based organizations by voting online during the month of April. In addition to UNCA, three of our member organizations and several Alliance members are participating as well. UNCA members Neighborhood Centers Inc (Houston), Center for Urban Families (Baltimore), and La Casa de Esperanza (Waukesha) are all competing in their local markets.

We need your help! If you support us, and mobilize friends and family to do the same, we can receive up to $35,000.

Please follow these steps and forward them along to everyone you know!

1. Make sure you have a Starbucks Card (these are the re-fillable gift cards available at the counter or online).
2. Go to www.starbucks.com/votegivegrow.
3. Turn your Starbucks Card into a Community Card by signing in. If you don’t have a Starbucks Card, you can get one on the site to participate.
4. Find UNCA by Clicking “Find a Community” or “Find an Organization”. You get one opportunity during the voting process to select a community, so consider who you want to receive your votes.
5. Starting April 1, vote for UNCA.
6. Share your vote through Facebook and Twitter.
7. Come back & vote each week for the rest of April!