Cary, NC — Leaders from United Way of North Carolina (UWNC) attended sessions and had the opportunity to present at the national 211 Thrive Conference, sharing insights and best practices with 211 professionals from across the country.
The annual event, hosted by United Way Worldwide and United Way of Greater Kansas City, brought together more than 300 211 leaders, staff, and partners to collaborate and strengthen the national information and referral network. There, attendees focused on improving access to essential community services. The event emphasized innovation, peer learning, and the future of 211 as a lifeline for individuals and families in need.
Discussing how we can be stronger together by partnering with national organizations during disasters, David Mercado joined Marcus Coleman, Alex Schwab (United Way) and Melissa Nelson (United Way of Florida) for a powerful session with knowledge on which partnerships to foster and how -- proactively -- in order to prepare for disasters than could be inevitable.
For our second session, our leadership team dove deep into how we drive KPIs through quality, data, and leadership development in our NC 211 contact center. We had a blast educating the crowd about each of our job duties and projects that combine into a fine-tuned system that's brought our call center to a 98% service level with a 15 second hold time on average. This has been achieved by our thorough training process, daily quality assurance checks, and extensive reporting.
UWNC’s presence at the conference underscored its commitment to enhancing access to critical information and support services — particularly for North Carolinians navigating housing instability, food insecurity, health care needs, and other essential resources. Through NC 211, callers are connected 24/7 to trained specialists who help identify local solutions to these challenges.
“This conference is more than a gathering of professionals — it’s a celebration of how the 211 network transforms lives every day,” said David Mercado, Senior Director of Operations at UWNC. Presenters like the leadership team from UWNC helped spark new ideas for strengthening systems that link people to help, hope, and community resources.
It was an honor for UWNC to pass along firsthand experiences and knowledge to conference attendees and to present alongside fellow leaders in these spaces.
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About NC 211
NC 211 is an information and referral service provided by United Way of North Carolina and powered by local United Ways of North Carolina. Families and individuals can call 2-1-1 or 1-888-892-1162 to receive free and confidential information on health and human services within their community.