Community Foundation of Sarasota County names new CEO

By Mark Gordon
| 5:00 a.m. November 11, 2025

Jessica Muroff has been CEO of the United Way Suncoast since 2019.

Sarasota
Business

A familiar name in nonprofit and human services in the region, Jessica Muroff, has been named CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Muroff has been CEO of the United Way Suncoast, one of the largest United Ways in Florida, since 2019. Muroff succeeds Roxie Jerde, whose 14-year tenure as president and CEO concluded with retirement on June 30. The foundation, with assets of $605 million in more than 1,600 charitable funds, announced Muroff’s appointment in a statement Monday morning. She begins in her new role Jan. 20, 2026.

“Our board of directors is thrilled for Jessica to bring her exceptional background and expertise to this role at the Community Foundation,” Paul Hudson, Community Foundation board chair who has also been serving as interim CEO, says in the statement. “For 45 years, our foundation has worked to achieve a united community through maintaining our role as a trusted philanthropic partner. As a seasoned CEO and strategic decision-maker who understands our generational approach to community investments, Jessica will build on our successes, carrying forward our mission of achieving impact through philanthropy.”

Muroff has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic and business sectors. At the United Way, which serves five counties in West Central Florida, she oversees a team of 63 employees. During her tenure, Muroff, according to the statement, “led a comprehensive organization transformation by prioritizing community impact through modernized grantmaking and collaborative initiatives and partnerships grounded in data while stewarding $51 million in fiscal assets, including a notable unsolicited donation of $20 million by the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.” (United Way Suncoast covers Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto counties.)

A way forward

United Way Suncoast, in a statement, says Jessica Muroff “has proven to be a beacon for philanthropic innovation in United Way Suncoast’s five-county service area and across the state” in her six years at the helm of the organization.

The Tampa-based organization says it will immediately begin a national search for a new CEO. It will also rely on a new Thriving United Way Suncoast Framework, which, according to a statement, is “a comprehensive strategic vision to chart a path for future success.”

“United Way Suncoast is in a strong position for this transition,” United Way Suncoast board chair Sara Nichols says in a statement from United Way. “Our organization has the leadership, strategy and stability to continue advancing our mission without pause. The board and I have complete confidence in our team and the path ahead.”

Muroff was selected after an extensive national search conducted by Kittleman, a Chicago-based executive recruitment firm that specializes in nonprofit leadership. Before joining United Way Suncoast, Muroff was chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of West Central Florida and in the same role of Frameworks of Tampa Bay, a social and emotional learning nonprofit organization serving youth. Muroff, the release states, is a member of the University of South Florida’s Women in Leadership & Philanthropy and the CEO Council of Tampa Bay and is a graduate of Leadership Florida.

“It is an honor to have been selected to lead this extraordinary organization and steward the charitable wishes of the generous people of this community,” Muroff says in the release. “The culture of compassion, integrity and quality within the Foundation is unmistakable, and the community’s commitment to a brighter future is deeply inspiring. I look forward to building on the Community Foundation’s many strengths and partnerships while working alongside our community to develop innovative solutions to the region’s ever-evolving challenges.”

Over the last 15 years, the Community Foundation, the release states, has grown assets under management from $190 million in charitable dollars to more than $600 million and is forecast to double to more than $1 billion over the next decade. Muroff, the organization adds, will be charged with developing and executing an ambitious and innovative plan to drive these efforts.

Muroff will be the third leader of the Community Foundation, which was established in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council to connect donors with nonprofit organizations. Jerde was preceded by Stewart Stearns, who led the foundation from 1988 to 2010.

A passionate outdoor adventurer, Muroff, the foundation says, seeks out challenges that mirror her approach to leadership — climbing mountains, running marathons and pursuing bold goals with grit and purpose. In addition, Muroff and her husband Owen LaFave, Pinellas County market president of the Bank of Tampa, choose a new competition-based skill to learn with a clear goal in mind each year.

This article originally appeared on sister site BusinessObserverFL.com.

author

Mark Gordon

Mark Gordon is the managing editor of the Business Observer. He has worked for the Business Observer since 2005. He previously worked for newspapers and magazines in upstate New York, suburban Philadelphia and Jacksonville.