Submission Sandra Rodriguez
Kathleen Woods-Richard-son, director, Miami-Dade County Public Works and Solid Waste Management Department, has been appointed chair of United Way Women’s Leadership Council. The council is an executive committee of women who guide and shape United Way’s Women’s Leadership program which promotes service and philanthropy among its 1,700 members.
During the one-year appointment, Woods-Richard-son will oversee numerous net-working, volunteering, advocacy and professional development opportunities, as well as a number of events, including the annual Women’s Leadership Breakfast.
“Kathleen is a true asset to United Way. She is a thoughtful and involved leader who evokes loyalty from everyone around her,” Harve A. Mogul, president and CEO, United Way of Miami-Dade, said. “We are honored to have her as a new addition to our board and at the helm of our Women’s Leader-ship initiatives.”
An avid supporter of the United Way Read Together/Leer Juntos program, where she regularly reads to local pre-K children, Woods-Richardson is a longtime volunteer of United Way. Over the years, she has served as co-chair of Miami-Dade County’s United Way Campaign Leadership Cabinet, which raised more than $570,000; host of an annual fundraising event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday benefiting United Way; and speaker at multiple Women’s Leadership events. This month she was also elected to serve a three-year term as a member of the United Way board.
Woods-Richardson is a seasoned public administrator with three decades of public sector service in the areas of transit, waste management and public works. Since 2004, she has led the largest government-owned-and-operated waste collection and disposal system in the southeastern United States. This nationally recognized waste management operation includes award-winning waste collection and recycling programs and a countywide disposal system that includes one of the largest and most technologically advanced waste-to-energy facilities of its kind in the world.
