Management Team



Carla Vargas Jasa, President and CEO

Carla Vargas Jasa is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Valley of the Sun United Way, which serves the more than 4.3M people of Maricopa County by uniting our community to support kids, families and the neighborhoods where they live. Valley of the Sun United Way is among the largest United Way in the nation and partners with 50,000 individual donors, volunteers and affinity group members, in addition to hundreds of companies, nonprofits and schools.

With input from nonprofit partners, the Board of Directors and United Way donors, Vargas Jasa led the launch of the United for the Valley COVID-19 Fund. By May 1, 2020, more than $3 million had been donated to the fund and over a million dollars distributed to local nonprofits serving those most impacted by the pandemic. In addition to these funds, over $740K in gifts-in-kind and 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) were circulated into the community.

Vargas Jasa joined Valley of the Sun United Way in June 2019 as the first female and Latina President and CEO. Prior to this role, she held several leadership roles for Orange County United Way, including Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Vice President of Major Gifts.

With Vargas Jasa’s leadership, the Orange County United Way launched FACE 2024, a 10-year strategic community impact plan driven by measurable community goals, which are tracked and reported in an annual Community Scorecard. She also guided the launch of United to End Homelessness, a communitywide response to Orange County’s growing homelessness population which brought new and innovative public-private partnerships to that market.

Vargas Jasa earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. In both 2015 and 2016, Vargas Jasa was recognized as a nominee for the Orange County Business Journal “Women in Business” Award and in 2012 received the OC Metro’s “40 Under 40” award. In 2020, Vargas Jasa was recognized as a “2020 Leader of the Year” by the Arizona Capitol Times for Valley of the Sun United Way’s COVID-19 Response and Management efforts and was listed as one of the “Most Influential Women in Arizona Business” by AZ Big Media. In her free time, Carla enjoys spending time with her husband, hiking in the Arizona desert and exploring new wineries north and south of the border.

Penny Allee Taylor, Chief Public Policy Officer

As Chief Public Policy Officer, Penny oversees all advocacy and public policy efforts for Valley of the Sun United Way at the federal, state, and local levels. She develops plans and strategies to address issues around youth and children, hunger and homelessness, and financial stability for individuals and families.

Prior to joining United Way, Penny served for 20 years in the Corporate Public Affairs Department of Southwest Gas Corporation managing issues at the Arizona State Legislature, the Governor’s Office, state agencies, and also worked with Arizona cities, towns, and counties and with the federal delegation. Prior to joining Southwest Gas, Penny served in other government relations capacities at the federal, state and county levels.

Penny has been an active member of numerous professional, community and civic organizations and was elected to the Maricopa County Charter Committee. Penny graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.

Tanya M. Muñiz, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

As Chief Financial & Administrative Officer, Tanya oversees all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities for the organization and leads the development of long term economic strategy. Tanya and her team provide key stakeholders, including the Board of Directors, the leadership team and staff, our donors and the general public with key information which helps them assess United Way’s effectiveness and efficiency. She holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from New Mexico State University.

Tanya was recognized as one of Arizona’s 40 Hispanic Leaders Under 40 of 2011, Financial Executive International Nonprofit CFO of the Year in Arizona 2013, and named by Phoenix Business Journal as one of Phoenix’s 40 Under 40 of 2014. Phoenix Business Journal has also recognized her as one of Phoenix’s Outstanding CFO’s and Rising Star. Tanya serves on the United World Wide Financial Issues Committee and United World Wide Diversity and Inclusion Council where she leads efforts to leverage the diversity of Latinos/Hispanics to create more inclusive communities.

Tanya formerly served on the Board and Finance Committee for Arizona Grantmaker’s Forum and currently serves as Board Treasurer for the Phoenix Community Tool Bank. She is a member of Financial Executive International and mentors for New Pathways for Youth. She is an active alumnus with Valley Leadership and Valle del Sol Hispanic Leadership Institute.

Rob Podlogar, Chief Community Development and Engagement Officer

Rob oversees Community Impact and Engagement at Valley of the Sun United Way. In this role, Rob guides the development and execution of the organizations 5-year Impact Agenda and aligns key new revenue opportunities with solutions for our community. In addition to Community Impact work, Rob also directs Grants, Major Gifts and donor circle initiatives. Rob has proven effectiveness in developing and executing strategy within and between organizations, and also has experience building strong collaboration between individuals and teams.

Rob holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Ohio Northern University. He brings more than 35 years of diverse leadership, strategy, philanthropy, foundation and financial services sector experience to the role.

Prior to joining United Way, Rob was the CEO of the Siemer Institute—founded by United Way Million Dollar Roundtable donors, Al and Barbara Siemer, with the intent to replicate and scale their homelessness prevention program which launched in Sarasota, Florida in 2003. Under Rob’s leadership, the Institute grew to more than 50 of the largest United Way organizations in the country, raising over $20MM annually and assisting more than 35,000 students and 15,000 families each year. Successful outcomes were achieved through helping each United Way tailor existing local programs to meet the needs of the families, keeping them housed and, in turn, reducing the students’ mobility between schools. Rob partnered closely with each United Way to assist with securing local donor funding to build a sustainable program for years to come. Nationally, Rob’s responsibilities also included directing the development and implementation of all aspects of the Institute, both long-term and strategic, as well as the day-to-day operations, overall accountability, fiscal management and program oversight.

While residing in Columbus, OH Rob was active in the LGBTQI+ community and served as Board President for Stonewall Columbus. He was also a Board of Trustee member for The Legacy Fund and active in The Human Rights Campaign.

Tamera Skrovan, Chief Corporate & Brand Development Officer

Tamera Skrovan leads Valley of the Sun United Way’s focus to build corporate relationships based on shared vision and goals that support our partners’ corporate social responsibility objectives while meeting our community’s most pressing needs. This includes jointly developing solutions, employee and corporate giving, implementation of Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud, cause marketing, sponsorships and volunteerism. Tamera also leads the brand and marketing to inspire and engage supporters, partners and community leaders across Maricopa County.

Tamera joined United Way in 2001 with a unique array of experiences having worked locally, nationally and globally for corporations, marketing agencies and nonprofits. With marketing agencies in Chicago and Denver, she worked to advance brands such as Target, Caterpillar, Spring Cellular and USWest. She served as Director of Brand Development for one of Europe’s top internet brands, Chello Broadband, based in Amsterdam. Prior to joining United Way, Tamera was Director of Marketing for The Nature Conservancy focused on Canada, Arizona and New Mexico.

Tamera holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State University. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Grantmakers Forum.