MEET DAMON BETHEA

Penn Hills resident Damon Bethea has been a dedicated United Way employee for 12 years and works everyday to help children and youth reach new levels of success. Before his current role, Damon directed United Way’s youth mentoring program. Now, his workday consists of connecting with partners, managing aspects of United Way’s investment priorities, strategizing new opportunities to grow United Way’s work, developing new relationships and inching along on the Parkway East ahead of the Squirrel Hills Tunnel with others making their way downtown.

The traffic is not fun but it’s worth it to Damon because he enjoys working with the great people who are doing and have done amazing things for communities in our region. He also loves the positive impacts United Way is making in communities through their partnerships like summer camps and mentoring programs. Community partnerships are Damon’s passion, he even wrote his master’s thesis on them!

Damon’s favorite memory at United Way was the College and Career Day experience for eighth graders in 2018. This event helped to connect eighth graders with college, labor, workforce development and high school transition representatives from across the region. Mentors helped their mentees prepare questions for the fair which impressed many of the college representatives and led to its implementation in United Way’s other mentoring programs.

When he’s not building relationships or doing community work, Damon is spending time with his nine grandchildren, traveling or watching movies. Thank you for your dedication, Damon!