March 15, 2023 07:07PM
​​​​​​​By Christian Metzger, Record-Journal staff

SOUTHINGTON — The Southington United Way has hired local resident Britt Lynch as its new executive director, which organizers say will usher in a string of new outreach campaigns to the community.

Lynch, a Southington native, has a background in business development after receiving her graduate degree from the University of Hartford — serving as the school’s development officer for eight years. Currently a stay-at-home mother, Lynch was drawn into the position as she looked for a way to re-apply her skills and give back to the community. 

“I grew up in Southington and I live here currently with my family. My work experience is in fundraising and development. I've worked in the nonprofit sector my whole career,” said Lynch. “I've been thinking about making my way back into the professional world as my kids are getting older. And to be in town is great, to be more involved with my community is important to me.”

Having arrived in February, Lynch will be taking over from the previous executive director Jack Eisenmann, who is retiring after serving in the role since 2016. Eisenmann will remain in an advisory role during the transition through May, and may stay on as a member of the advisory board following his departure. 

“We're at a pretty exciting point of the organization with a lot of new faces and excitement to give back and raise more money for our Southington community,” President Taylor Deegan said. “We're really happy to have someone who is very excited to pave her own way for the United Way of Southington and to get more support to our community — the Southington community — and to bring more creative events to the town.”

The United Way is an organization that helps distributes funds to non-profits in the community and assists in volunteering efforts. 

With the new leadership, the group is looking for new means to engage with the local community and is making plans to host new events and have a greater presence at local events throughout the year in order to further its outreach and show Southington residents more of the work the organization has been doing. 

The United Way is also looking to make further strides toward updating its image, with a planned update to its website, including a page where individual donors can give contributions online. Along with that will be opening applications for new organizations that are looking to partner with United Way for allocations, as part of an initiative to continue to grow the network of partners across town. 

The application process is expected to open sometime in April. 

“For a long time the United Way of Southington has kind of been operating the same way. So I think there's a lot of growth potential for how we fundraise and how we interact with our community,” Lynch said. “We want to be in front of our community as much as possible, so people will be seeing us more at events, hosting our own events, and then also attending events and functions within town. People nowadays when they give to organizations, they don't want to just hand over a check and be done. They want to be more involved and they want to be volunteering and seeing what they're doing in action.”

Organizers are enthused about the new direction they’re looking to go in, and the benefits they can bring to the town as a whole. 

“We're very excited as an organization for the transition, and it's like a breath of new air,” Deegan said. “We’re excited to get to work for the town of Southington and the Southington community.”

cmetzger@record-journal.com

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