Hello Everyone:
My name is Jack Pflanz, and I am thrilled to have been selected to represent the United Way of the Mohawk Valley as the new Director of Development and Communications. In way of a brief introduction, I am a lifelong resident of Central New York. I was born and raised in Utica and educated in Utica schools and local colleges. As a child, I grew up as a resident of the Utica Municipal Housing Authority and spent my teenage years residing in Cornhill. My family environment was economically, emotionally, and physically challenging to say the least. My family and I relied on the generosity of many of our local non-profit organizations and the resources of several social service agencies throughout the years. In fact, what drew me to the United Way was the memory of growing up as part of a family in need of programs and assistance. I felt it was an opportunity for me to combine my experiences with my education, skills, and abilities to help improve quality of life in my hometown. As I often like to say, you don’t do this kind of work for the income, you do it for the outcome.
After graduating in the very last class of Utica Free Academy (UFA), I graduated from Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) with a degree in Media, Marketing and Management and from the SUNY Institute of Technology (now SUNY Poly) with a degree in Business and Public Management with a minor in Marketing. I have worked in county government as speech writer and publicist for a former Oneida County Executive, in fundraising and communications in the Utica and Syracuse offices of the American Diabetes Association, in corporate communications for Sprint Nextel Corporation and most recently as a consultant for a public relations agency based out of Syracuse and Florida, helping both for-profit and non-profit clients exceed their business goals. I am a long-time participant of the Utica Boilermaker Road Race, America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk, and the CNY Ride for Missing Children. I am proud to have raised a daughter here in the Mohawk Valley. She followed in my footsteps graduating from MVCC and will be graduating this May from SUNY Oswego. She will begin graduate studies in August with the hopes of becoming an elementary school art teacher here in our community. In our spare time we love to volunteer, cook, bake, hike, cycle, rock climb, run, kayak, camp, and garden.
I look forward to working with all of you to make a difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors. If I can be of any assistance in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by phone at 315-733-4691, ext. 232 or by email at JackP@UnitedWayMV.org.