On May 28, more than 450 cross-sector leaders gathered in Philadelphia for United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey’s 4th annual OpportUNITY Summit. We came together around a powerful theme: Servant Leadership - a call to lead not with ego, but with empathy, courage, and a deep commitment to others.
Speakers encouraged us to shift our thinking, challenge entrenched systems, and lead with courage and imagination.
“Poverty is not a line, it’s a knot.”
– Matthew Desmond, Author of Evicted and Poverty, By America and Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond reframed poverty as a system, not a statistic. “We need to ask why there’s a fire,” he said, “not why people are jumping from the burning building.” His research urges us to look upstream and address the root causes - housing injustice, wage theft, discriminatory policies - if we want lasting change.
“Leave your community better than you found it.”
– Michael Nutter, Former Mayor, City of Philadelphia
Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, invoking the Athenian Oath, issued a challenge to every leader in the room: lead with legacy in mind. He called on us to think generationally - to ask not what we can get from leadership, but what we can give. Servant leadership is ultimately about stewardship: the quiet, consistent work of making things better for those who come after us.
“Just keep doing the next right thing.”
– Paige Cognetti, Mayor, City of Scranton
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti offered a deeply relatable approach to leadership. In a world of complex challenges, the work can feel overwhelming. But servant leadership, she reminded us, is about showing up, staying grounded, and doing what’s right, even when no one is watching. One action at a time, trust is built and change comes.
“The ripples you create are out there.”
– Vu Le, Founder, NonprofitAF
Vu Le brought both urgency and humor to the conversation, sharing how his own family arrived in Philadelphia as refugees from Vietnam. Support from local resettlement organizations not only helped his family survive - it shaped his lifelong commitment to service. He reminded us that even when we can’t see the immediate impact of our work, the ripples of care and justice travel further than we know.
“Never underestimate the power of a decolonized imagination.”
– Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Trintiy United Church of Christ, Chicago
Rev. Moss closed out the morning with a stirring reflection on the role of imagination in justice work. He told the story of Georgia Gilmore and the “Club from Nowhere” - a grassroots group of women who quietly but powerfully sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Their actions embodied servant leadership at its finest: working behind the scenes, grounded in love and justice, with no need for credit.
This year’s Summit reminded us that imagination, systems thinking, and moral clarity are essential to the work of opportunity. And it left us with a clear message: True leadership serves. It listens before it acts. It centers those most impacted. It builds power by giving it away.
Now let’s keep going. Let’s keep doing the next right thing. And save the date for our 5th Summit – May 27, 2026!