United Way Suncoast unveiled its new strategic vision in a special one-hour virtual presentation on Sept. 9. Hosted by 10 Tampa Bay Brightside anchor Frank Wiley, the presentation featured CEO Jessica Muroff guiding viewers through a series of conversations about how United Way Suncoast, one of the region’s leading nonprofits, plans to continue lifting up ALICE families and positively impacting the community.
The presentation also featured United Way Suncoast’s chief impact officers, Bronwyn Beightol and Emery Ivory, chief advancement officer Kari Goetz and board chair Brian Deming, who set the tone with opening remarks. Representatives from the Boys & Girls Club of the Suncoast (Freddy Williams), Parenting Matters (Katrina Bellemare) and All Faiths Food Bank (Sandra Frank) also participated, along with Tampa International Airport vice president Veronica Cintron, Florida Blue senior communications lead Estella Gray and local philanthropist and board member Jamie Egasti, who recently teamed with his wife Jane to fund a new early learning initiative in St. Petersburg’s Campbell Park.
Now in its 97th year, UWS leads, convenes and collaborates to improve the community. It fuels its own initiatives like the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, Reading All-Stars, the Campaign For Grade Level Reading and Operation Graduate, which all underscore its focus on early learning, youth success and financial stability in a five-county region: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto. Its resource centers and reading rooms dot the landscape and help bring needed services directly to the community.
In addition, United Way Suncoast annually delivers community invest funds to more than 70 strategic community partners who assist in promoting early learning, youth success and financial stability. In the last 14 months, it’s given more than $11 million to area nonprofits.
Moving forward, it will continue to deepen its relationship with strategic community partners, engage volunteers and donors as partners in caring, and infuse diversity, equality, and inclusion in all its actions. Muroff concluded the program by addressing DEI. She said that in the wake of the 2020 death of George Floyd, United Way has the answer for companies that want to do more than just talk about diversity, equity and inclusion.
“We don’t want to be part of necessary change, we want to lead it — because this is what we’ve done since 1924,” Muroff told the audience. “This is our mission, and we will not waiver from it.
“So, to every business out there struggling to match action with words, we have the answer. To every volunteer who wants to create lasting impact, we have the answer. To every donor seeking a forthright steward of their dollars, we have the answer. All we need is for you to stand with us, to give of your time, talent and treasure, to help us transform this region. Because as we say every day — United We Rise, United We Win.”
To see the full presentation, click here.
