Dominic Ng to Receive 2015 United Way Tocqueville Society Award

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Way Worldwide is presenting The 2015 United Way Tocqueville Society Award, its highest international honor for an individual volunteer, to Dominic Ng on March 17 at the Tocqueville Leaders' Summit in Laguna Beach, CA. Mr. Ng is the chairman and CEO of East West Bancorp, Inc. He has been a member of the Corporate Board of United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA) since 1995.

"Dominic Ng's passion for building stronger communities is clear in his work as a visionary strategic planner and generous donor," said Brian Gallagher, President and CEO, United Way Worldwide. "Dominic's vision and influence were instrumental in developing the 10-year plan to address income stability in Los Angeles. His work has been critical to amplifying the impact of United Way of Greater Los Angeles."

While serving on the board of UWGLA, where he is currently an Honorary Advisory Director, Mr. Ng helped create a quality of life index in 2008 that provided civic and community leaders with a tool for evaluating Los Angeles County's strength in four key areas: education, economic status, health and public safety. This tool showed that while safety in Los Angeles had improved, its workforce remained under-educated, under-skilled, poor and unhealthy. To address these issues, Mr. Ng has dedicated much of his time to improve education outcomes by eliminating skills gaps in local schools.

Mr. Ng became the first Asian-American chair of the United Way campaign in 2000-2001, encouraging the organization to diversify the distribution of its funds to smaller agencies that serve minority populations. This new approach – particularly his outreach to Chinese-American donors – helped the organization raise a record $66 million.

This year, East West Bank is celebrating its 20-year partnership with United Way. Under Mr. Ng's leadership, the bank and its employees raised millions of dollars for the "Creating Pathways Out of Poverty" initiative which helps individuals and families gain financial stability. The bank has also mobilized its employees across the U.S. to participate in United Way's annual fundraising campaign. East West Bank has been recognized with multiple awards by United Way for being a role model in corporate social responsibility, including Model Campaign of the Year in 2013, Outstanding HomeWalk Champion in 2014, Spirit of Los Angeles Award and Outstanding Workplace Ambassador of the Year Award in 2015.  

"Dominic represents the best of leadership in terms of his role as a corporate leader and philanthropist," said Elise Buik, CEO and President of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. "He understands that he has a responsibility to teach others to give back and has set a strong example. He has brought his innovative thinking to the nonprofit sector, encouraging community impact-focused philanthropy."

About The United Way Tocqueville Award

The United Way Tocqueville Award, which has been presented annually since 1973, recognizes exceptional and sustained volunteer and philanthropic leadership. The award is named after Alexis de Tocqueville, a French scholar who visited North America in 1830 and documented in his treatise, Democracy in America, 1835 and 1840, the spirit of voluntary association and effort for the common good that he observed in these communities. The Tocqueville Award has been accepted by former U.S. Presidents Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter and other perhaps less well-known leaders whose philanthropic actions have improved the lives of thousands of people. The criteria include exceptional and sustained giving, advocating and volunteering with United Way locally, nationally and/or globally; a deep commitment to human services; as well as creative leadership and volunteer service that inspire others to serve. The United Way Tocqueville Society was formed in 1984 to deepen individual understanding of, commitment to, and support for United Way's work in advancing the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all.

About United Way Worldwide

With 2.9 million volunteers and 10.3 million donors worldwide, and more than $5 billion raised every year, United Way is the world's largest privately-funded nonprofit. We're engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide to create community solutions that improve education, financial stability & health. United Way partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith organizations, along with educators, labor leaders, health providers, senior citizens, students and more. For more information about United Way, please visit UnitedWay.org. Follow us on Twitter: @UnitedWay and #LiveUnited.

About United Way of Greater Los Angeles

United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways out of poverty by helping homeless people move into housing, providing students with the support they need to graduate high school prepared for college and the workforce, and helping hard-working families become financially stable. United Way identifies the root causes of poverty and works strategically to solve them by building alliances across all sectors, funding targeted programs and advocating for change. For more information, visit www.unitedwayla.org.

SOURCE United Way of Greater Los Angeles

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