Brian Wachman, Executive Director of United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County, is a community leader who makes a difference for youth in Lincoln. He sees his role as a TeamMates of Lincoln Public Schools (www.lincolnteammates.org) mentor as a personal commitment that coincidentally reflects the objectives United Way has made to positively impact Lincoln children.

United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County has chosen that 60 percent of their funding will go to help and improve the lives of children. Also, United Way has adopted the Lincoln Public Schools goal of attaining a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2019.

Brian, who had mentored a child while he was Executive Director of the Greater Kansas City United Way, said that when he moved to Lincoln and learned about the TeamMates program through his Rotary involvement, he decided to again become a mentor.

Brian and his leadership team are working directly with staff and students through the ENGAGE.EMPOWER.GRADUATE. initiative at McPhee Elementary. One of the focuses of this initiative is to increase the number of TeamMates mentors at McPhee. TeamMates currently serves more than 1,190 student and mentor matches, yet there are still more than 780 youth who would like a caring adult mentor.

TeamMates (www.lincolnteammates.org) greatly appreciates the partnership with United Way that includes the engagement of its administrators, grant funding support, and the personal commitment from staff and affiliates.