Ricardo Diaz's Insights | Milwaukee, the Virus & Fundraising

By Mark Sabljak
March 24, 2020

Recently, my partner Marybeth Budisch and I asked ourselves a question: If we were raising funds for or leading a nonprofit and were faced with our current crisis, who would we turn to and ask for advice?

So we put together a list of individuals who have been there and overcame the odds. This is another in the series and highlights Ricardo Diaz, who earlier this month received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Milwaukee Business Journal at their Diversity Achievement Award program. Diaz has been executive director of the United Community Center since 2003 and grown the organization substantially during his tenure.

Here’s what Ricardo shared:

My wife Meg and I opened the mail the other day. There were two notes from different schools. One said, “Don’t forget about our fundraising goal.” We looked at each other and said “How inappropriate.” It felt like ambulance chasing. The other school took the opposite route and talked about the current need of their students and asked that we put ourselves in the place of a family of four where one parent is an hourly worker that’s been laid off and in addition to worrying about food, is now asked to teach the kids. Teach? Who was trained to do that?

Now is the time for leaders to lead. You can’t panic. This too will end and there will be a normal….yes a new normal, but a normal. Staff needs to see the leader at the front of the pack modeling the right behavior.

Nonprofit leaders must think of their clients and how your services can make their lives better. Even during these challenging times there are things we can do, plan and be prepared for actions now and in the future.

Another lesson is while you watch your neighbor to see what they are doing, it might not be right for your organization to do. You must think of what is important to your organization and act accordingly.

Ricardo’s Bio:

Currently Executive Director for the United Community Center, a comprehensive social service agency serving Milwaukee area Latinos, Ricardo has more than 30 years of nonprofit management experience. Diaz previously served as Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development and the Executive Director of the Milwaukee Housing Authority and before those positions, served as Executive Director at the UCC until 1988.

He has become known as a leading quality education advocate in Milwaukee. Diaz shares with many his firm belief that education is the path out of poverty and critical to the growth of our city.

He is a board member with the Green Bay Packers. Under his leadership the UCC has undergone a number of expansions in the last 10 years including a Latino Geriatric Center to serve elderly with Alzheimer’s disease, a new elderly housing complex and senior center in conjunction with the Housing Authority of Milwaukee, and also several additions and renovations of the Bruce Guadalupe Community School including elementary science labs, an early childhood center, and new classrooms in the Middle School. Bruce-Guadalupe Community School is now one of the largest elementary schools in the state, and UCC also recently completed support construction of a new middle school, the UCC Acosta Middle School. Now, the UCC moves to younger students with focus on early childhood education with the UCC Early Learning Academy and a campaign to support the construction of a new center in the heart of the Hispanic community. The UCC is now the 17th largest Hispanic Non-profit in the country. Diaz lives in the City of Milwaukee with his wife and has one adult daughter who lives with her husband in Milwaukee.