New Employee Spotlight: Scott Umbel

Our United Way of Southeastern Connecticut family has been growing in recent months, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome our new faces! We would like to take a little time and introduce the newest additions to our team, through these New Employee Spotlights. This edition is centered on Scott Umbel, Community Impact Director.

Scott has been with us since September 2019 and has brought a great deal of experience with him. A nomad, Scott says he’s “lived in every state between Maryland and Massachusetts,” as well as California, and he currently resides in Rhode Island. Scott graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Recreation Management, with a concentration in Non-Profit Studies. After graduating, Scott began working for the YMCA in various locations throughout the Northeast, working his way up from Aquatics Coordinator all the way to a Branch Executive Director in central Massachusetts, through a 20-year career. Scott made the jump from YMCA to United Way after he and his family moved to Rhode Island. He wanted an opportunity to continue working in non-profits and to serve his community, making the position at UWSECT a perfect match. “Working with and supporting so many critical service organizations in our community and seeing the impact our support and their tireless work has on others,” Scott says, is the aspect of his job that is most exciting for him. He finds motivation in being able to contribute towards making a positive impact on others, which he says is “super duper cheesy,” but nonetheless important to him.

Outside of the office, Scott is a big fan of anything involving being on or in water. “During the summer in particular I’m outdoors on something that floats every weekend day I can,” he said. From swimming to kayaking to sailing and boating, he cannot be kept away from the water. Scott was once awarded the keys to the town of Chestertown, MD after successfully resuscitating a youth who had suffered from cardiac arrest while he was working as an Aquatics Director. Since this event, he has been a strong advocate for basic lifesaving skill training and AED’s in all at-risk environments.

Scott is a valuable member of our team, and we are as excited to have him a part of our organization as he is to be a part of it!