Brian Gallagher is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of

United Way Worldwide United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way o ...

Early life and education

Gallagher was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He was raised in

Hobart, Indiana Hobart is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,890 at the 2020 census, up from 29,059 in 2010. It has been historically primarily residential, though recent annexation has added a notable retail corridor to the city ...

, where he was one of six children. His father was a plumber and his mother was a homemaker who reupholstered chairs for extra income. In 1981, he graduated from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

with a degree in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

and started with the United Way as a management trainee. In 1992, he received his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, and in 2003 Ball State University awarded Gallagher an honorary Doctor of Humanities.

Career

After working for United Way for 21 years (with the last five at the United Way in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

), Gallagher was appointed to be the President and CEO of the

United Way of America United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

in 2002. He held this position he held until 2009 when United Way of America and United Way International joined to form United Way Worldwide. In January 2017, he was appointed by then-

Governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state governmen ...

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

as a trustee of his alma mater

for a term lasting until December 31, 2020. In March 2021, Gallagher resigned from United Way following allegations that United Way Worldwide retaliated against employees for reporting sexual harassment. Three female employees had filed complaints with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

alleging misconduct and retaliation after they filed their complaints. One of the woman alleged Gallagher fired her as retaliation for reporting sexual harassment by another unnamed executive. A United Way Worldwide commissioned investigation found no “actionable harassment, discrimination, or retaliation” at the organization but the women who filed the complaints called those findings into question. Gallagher said of the allegations: “there is no evidence of a toxic or hostile culture. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely, just like almost any other workplace.”

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Brian Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American nonprofit executives United Ways people People from Hobart, Indiana Ball State University alumni Emory University alumni