ALMetro360 April 18

Julie Greene VP United Way By Kristi Gates Photography by DiAnna Paulk In 2010, Julie Greene was a successful regulatory liaison at a financial institution she had been with for more than 25 years. But a horrific accident in 2006 that left her hus- band with multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain in- jury, ultimately paved the way for her current job at River Region United Way. In 2006, Greene and her husband traveled extensively for work, and one day she got a call no one wants to receive. Her husband was in an accident in Mississippi and had been life-flighted to a hospital in Jackson. She says, “That moment forward kind of changed my life. Although family was always important, it became my top priority. Every mo- ment became precious. He clung to life for the first few weeks. Our daughter was newly 16, and it was very trau- matic because she had to stay here and take care of herself while I was gone. The people who rallied to help her, I can never thank them enough.” Greene says, “We had moms fixing lunches for her, check- ing on her, making sure she had gas in her car and was mak- ing it to everything she needed to make it to. I was in Jackson for almost four weeks. People here were contacting people in Jackson to minister to me. Sweet ladies from a local church would come to my hotel room and get my dirty clothes, launder them, and return them. It’s those kind of things that make you want to pay it forward because you can never go back and repay those people enough.” That was the mentality she had in 2010 when she got a call asking her to come to United Way. Greene says she thought of it as her way to pay it forward and help others. Today as Senior Vice President and COO/CFO, she ensures the organization is accountable and transparent as it funds agencies making a difference for more than 135,000 in our community. Greene has worked at UnitedWay for the past eight years, but her involvement with the organization and its member agencies goes back much further. She recalls, “I served on the YMCA’s Jimmy Hitchcock Award committee, was a judge for the Boys & Girls Club of Alabama’s Outstanding Youth Award, spoke to Hospice of Montgomery about the importance of their work, and was heavily involved in an organization called PASS (Peers are Staying Straight) and Teen Court in Prattville. Community service was always very important to me.” Outside of work, Greene and her husband volunteer with their church and love to travel. She says, “I grew up over- seas. My dad was in the Air Force and my mother grew up in England. My father did all European tours so my mother could be close to home.” She came to the states as a teenager when her dad went to work for a company based in Chicago that sent him to work in Prattville. Greene says Prattville has become her adopted home, adding, “When I came to Prattville it was like putting down roots. At the same time I was grateful because growing up overseas and moving so much makes you a little more accepting and more open minded. When he met me, my husband said it was impor- tant to him to get to knowme and what made me who I am, so we’ve traveled all over the world together. I’ve gotten to show him where I grew up.” Today, Greene uses the opportunities and blessings she’s received along the way to serve the River Region. She says, “It’s not about the numbers for me. Because the United Way is focused on community needs and matching resources to those needs, that’s much more important to me than adding to a company’s bottom line. It’s not just a job, it’s my min- istry.” ^ Find us on Facebook and Instagram APRIL 2018 29