Change-Maker

United Way CEO tackles 'good' challenge: Dispersing big donation

Leader handles a pair of curveballs — one positive, one negative, with a core value front-and-center: transparency.

By Elizabeth Djinis
| 8:00 a.m. August 12, 2021
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Mark Wemple. Jessica Muroff was named CEO of United Way Suncoast in October 2019.

Leadership

When Jessica Muroff took on the CEO role at United Way Suncoast, she had no way to know she would be mired in a global pandemic in four months.

Her focus as the organization’s newly minted leader was determining the challenges and opportunities it faced. Soon after joining the nonprofit, she presented the board with an 18-month strategy for growth. Then, two months later, there was a small wrench in her plan: the pandemic.

Within two days of COVID-19, United Way Suncoast, which covers DeSoto, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, was 100% working remotely. In quick succession, it launched the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund and raised almost $1.6 million.