Shaunae Motley leads Albany community toward strength, unity as CEO of United Way of Southwest Georgia

ALBANY

Shaunae Motley is no stranger to serving her community. In fact, she’s used to “driving the bus” to do so.

Motley is the president and CEO of United Way of Southwest Georgia, a nonprofit that uplifts the community in areas such as education and health. She’s held the position for about five years and said she sees service as her calling.

“Every morning I wake up and I say, ‘How can I be used for something greater than me?’” she said.

Motley is the daughter of a Baptist minister and a retired educator, so service has always been a part of her life. The Atlanta native went through the city’s public school system and then attended Georgia Southern University, where she studied public relations.

In college, she began working part-time at the Bulloch County Boys and Girls Club. Despite being part-time, her higher-ups invested in her growth, sending her to national conferences and exposing her to leaders at various levels. Motley said she soon saw how she could use her communications skills to change the lives of young people and their families. She ended up as the education director for The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Atlanta.

After her time with the Boys and Girls Club, Motley began working with a new foundation started by a former NBA player that would create an academic after-school program for fourth- and fifth-graders. She built the program from the ground-up, growing it to serve more than 4,000 youths annually. She left as the COO.

Motley said she wanted to move her work to a grassroots organization to be able to invest more time in her daughter and to help smaller communities that often see a deep divide when it comes to access and resources.

“There’s this notion of two Georgias — Atlanta and then the rest of the state,” she said. “It was very important for me at that juncture in my career that I invest in rural areas and communities to help build capacity.”

Motley’s work in southwest Georgia began part-time, as she worked in teen pregnancy prevention in Calhoun, Terrell and Randolph counties.

When the work took off, the communities wanted more. The organization applied for a federal grant to provide more services, and they got it. Soon, Motley was moving to Albany to better be a part of the communities she was serving. Now, she calls herself a reformed city girl.

“I’ve fallen in love with what my Atlanta family and friends affectionately call ‘the little A,’ after being raised in ‘the big A,,” Motley said. “I’ve fallen in love with Albany and its surrounding counties.”

At the end of her time with the organization, it was serving 1,000 youths annually. The young people served gained national attention and state awards, she said. Many of them found work opportunities through the program.

Then, came the opportunity for Motley to work with the United Way of Southwest Georgia. She always wanted to dive into philanthropy, she said, and through the United Way, she saw great opportunity for building capacity.

United Way mobilizes and unites the community, Motley said. The organization’s mission is to close gaps and open opportunities so everyone can thrive. It does this in a variety of ways: educating nonprofits on the importance of policy, grant-making and in providing programs on large issues like mental health resilience or stopping school violence.

“We’re coming together,” Motley said. “We’re engaging leaders across multiple sectors to really get on one accord.”

In her five years as United Way’s CEO, Motley has driven tremendous growth.

“We more than doubled our revenue — reversing a six-year decline; we increased our staff from two to seven along with interns and volunteers, and we’ve been able to expand our programming from being just a grant-maker to a training and technical assistance provider,” she said. “In 2023, United Way of Southwest Georgia received the Nonprofit of the Year award from the Albany Area Chamber.

United Way celebrates its 70th year in southwest Georgia this year, Motley said. It was founded on a strong history, but was losing its relevance. She pushed the organization toward growth and innovation.

Since 2019, United Way’s work shifted to respond to the more pressing needs of today. It also now boasts a flexible funding structure that allows for greater participation by smaller community nonprofits.

There are more than 500 nonprofits in the community, Motley said. She’s focused on giving exposure and support to as many grantees as possible.

Motley and the United Way staff support the community in unique ways. They bring grantees to the Georgia Capitol to get exposed to lawmakers and the policy process. They brainstorm unique campaigns for a number of issues concerning the community, like a silent dance party to increase awareness on suicide prevention.

“We’re small, but we’re mighty,” Motley said. “We’ve had to challenge the status quo, but we’re meeting the challenge and elevating our community in tremendous ways.”

She said she wants to see the community “sparkling” and realizing its full potential. She feels pride in seeing the community able to hold conversations on subjects that were once taboo.

Despite always wanting to lead a life of service, Motley said leading as a CEO was never on her radar. There are challenges, she said, in being a black female CEO.

Nonprofits are often staffed by women, but the leadership is often more male-led, and it’s hard, she said. However, she remains focused on her mission.

“The good days outweigh the bad,” Motley said.

The CEO has been called an inspiration by the people she works with. One young woman told her she didn’t know black women could be CEOs before working with Motley. She gets choked up when thinking about this level of impact.

“Talking about inspiration … you do it and you don’t even know,” she said. “I’m just doing my job. I’m just fulfilling my calling. But to know that young people, even adults, have been enabled by that.”

There’s strength in being a woman who leads, Motley said. They take on a lot, but they do it with grace.

“We’re the fire that keeps the world going,” she said. “We’re daughters. We’re friends. We’re sorority members. We’re caretakers. We have to juggle so much, and it allows us to be able to govern and administer in a balanced way.”

She encourages young women interested in being leaders to get involved and connect with mentors.

“Leave that ladder down as you’re climbing … so you can continue to encourage others,” Motley said.

Be yourself, Motley advised.

“You will always win when you are you,” she said.

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