Sarasota community foundation CEO announces retirement

After the president and CEO for the Community Foundation of Sarasota County announced her plans to retire in 2025, the charitable organization says it plans to form a search committee this summer to identify her successor.

Since March 2011, Roxie Jerde has led the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, a nonprofit that oversees about half a billion dollars in charitable assets. It had nearly $489 million in total assets in 2023, according to its annual report. Jerde will retire at the end of the organization’s fiscal year in June 2025, the board of directors said in a statement.

“Sarasota County is an extraordinary place where smart, caring people work together to create a lasting impact, and I am grateful to have worked with those who care so deeply for their neighbors and causes closest to their hearts," Jerde says in a statement. "I have witnessed the incredible impact that our collective efforts have had on our community.” 

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Among the accomplishments under Jerde’s leadership are that the assets the organization manages have grown from $190 million to more than $520 million, and they are projected to exceed $1 billion in the next decade, according to a statement from the foundation; in addition, the foundation has nearly doubled the number of funds it manages from 811 to more than 1,580 funds during Jerde’s tenure.

Jerde was the second leader of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, which was established in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council. The search committee forming later this year will aim to select the third CEO in the foundation’s history by late spring 2025, according to the statement.