United Way of Northern Arizona — Our board leadership

by Community Contributor • March 7, 2023 • Comments Off

Our Volunteer Board Leadership

To fulfill its mission of improving lives by mobilizing communities to make lasting positive change, United Way of Northern Arizona has always depended on its volunteer Board of Directors to direct its efforts.

The Board is comprised of 25 individuals representing the diversity of the region it serves. The Board sets and monitors policies, reviews the budget, and ensures United Way’s accountability to all donors.

Recently, the UWNA Board elected its officers for the 2023 year.

Mike Kelly, who recently retired from W.L. Gore & Associates, is returning as Chairman of the Board. Originally from Southern California, he moved to Flagstaff in 1982 to begin his career at Gore, where he held a variety of positions in the company’s Medical Products Division. For more than 13 years, he’s been a UWNA volunteer. In addition to serving on the board, Mike has also been a Community Investment Team Leader, helping ensure that our donations reach the programs that are having the most impact.

Vice Chair Armando Ruiz is an Arizona native who grew up in Flagstaff. He currently serves as the elected County Assessor and has worked in public service with Coconino County for almost 20 years. In addition to serving on the Board, Armando has volunteered for the Community Investment Team and recently headed up the committee charged with finding the successor to President & CEO Carol Dykes. The committee successfully recruited Liz Archuleta, a Biden-Harris administration member and former member of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, who will take over the role in April.

Treasurer Megan Cunningham is one of Armando’s former colleagues; before joining NAU as the university’s Budget Director in 2020, Megan worked in the Coconino County Finance Department. She’s had a long history as a volunteer with UWNA as a member of the Finance Committee. Megan also has served on UWNA’s Community Investment Team.

Stacey Brechler-Knaggs is an Arizona native who has worked for the City of Flagstaff for almost 40 years. She administers more than $75 million a year in federal, state and local grants and oversees hundreds of city-wide agreements. Stacey also oversees the City’s Emergency Management Program which is a core public safety function that works to prepare the community to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from large incidents or disasters. She’s a graduate from Northern Arizona University and a member of the National and Arizona Chapter of the Grant Professionals Association.

Together, along with our other volunteer Board members, Mike, Armando, Megan and Stacey will continue to steer our organization as we support dozen of programs that are improving early childhood development, fostering strong and resilient youth, and providing basic needs to families in Coconino, Navajo and Apache counties.