Committed to Collaboration

Vanecia Kerr Takes Helm of United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona

By Loni Nannini

Vanecia Kerr values teamwork.

As the new president and CEO of United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, Kerr models her belief that building a successful nonprofit is accomplished step by step and team member by team member across the community.

“Leadership is collaborative. No man is an island unto himself. I believe success requires a level of collaboration with people, both in the community as well as with my team. Everyone needs to understand their value and what they bring to the table,” said Kerr. 

“It is like creating a quilt. There are all of these different pieces that come together within a quilt to make the end product. If you are missing the center square, you don’t have a complete quilt. I am trying to help people understand that every piece is essential to accomplish a goal…and when we come together, that is how we create the magic that helps to support a community.”

She honed this philosophy as Chief Impact Officer of Mile High United Way in Denver before taking the helm in Tucson last summer. Prior experience with College Track Colorado and City Year Denver also provided excellent preparation for oversight of the $12 million annual budget and programming for 250,000+ people at United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Once she arrived, Kerr embarked on a “listening and learning tour” with local leaders in business and the nonprofit and public sectors. Kerr said the insight and support of these key players—through volunteerism and through Give United, the annual fundraising campaign—are much appreciated and provide a “solid and stable foundation” that facilitates success.

“Serving hundreds of thousands of people through direct services and through partnerships with other nonprofit organizations is one of the things that United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona does really well,” said Kerr. 

“We develop partnerships with other nonprofits as well as with the private and public sectors and foundations. We bring people together and understand how to convene people around a shared purpose and a shared cause, and that helps us to support the community in a very unique way.” 

Another critical—and unique—component of United Way success is the implementation of a wide range of innovative, direct service programs such as My Summer Library, VITA and other Financial Wellness initiatives, Accelerate Quality, elements of the Cradle to Career partnership, Volunteer Center services, and Direct Care Workforce Training. 

These direct services “provide a significant portion of our local impact and play a vital role in strengthening the community,” according to Kerr. 

Moving forward, Kerr seeks to maximize United Way programming—and provide continued outreach—to target the roots of poverty and make lasting impact through education, financial wellness, healthy living, and housing stability. 

“There is a lot of potential for United Way and we are doing great work, but we have more than 150,000 people living in poverty here in our community, so we know that there is more that we can do. The next part of the question is to understand why we have so many people living in poverty and what we can do to change that,” she said.

She embraces a multi-stage, multi-generational approach to programming with an emphasis on early childhood education and improved access to resources for children, parents and family members “that will allow them to move into a safe and stable type of environment.”

Nonprofits are key players in the collaborative effort. United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona currently works with more than 80 local nonprofits, and Kerr seeks to expand those partnerships. 

“There is incredible work happening through nonprofits in this community, from those serving mothers of small children to those building tiny homes to support the unhoused and so many more. The nonprofits have been incredibly creative in addressing the needs within this community. . .and we want to set ourselves on a path going forward that allows us to deepen this impact over the next couple of years,” she said.

Ultimately, Kerr views United Way of Tucson as a convener of togetherness on every level.

“It seems like a lot to wrap your arms around, but this is the work of United Way. It is about bringing communities together to solve some of our most pressing issues. We combine with other partners throughout our community to address the needs in a meaningful way that allows us to measure our success as we go forward.” 

Pictured above – Vanecia Kerr, President & CEO, United Way Tucson and Southern Arizona