Leadership

Photo credit Delta Productions, Davian Peterson

The SAVMA leadership is elected annually by their member peers to lead the organization. No matter their professional titles, each individual is a leader of volunteer engagement. Even more importantly, they have taken a key step to furthering their profession by taking on a leadership role in the association. Please consider how you might support the volunteer engagement profession by sharing your time as a board or committee member with your peers. Review key position descriptions for more information.

Board of Directors

Officers

Jennifer Lohse (President)

Jennifer has served in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years in various leadership positions. She holds a Certified Nonprofit Professional credential from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. As the Vice President and External Relations of the Tucson Foundations, she works with more than 70 grantees annually and administers $3 million to the local community. Leadership for volunteer engagement professionals is near and dear to Jennifer’s heart, and she is proud to support the community in a SAVMA governance role.

Micaela Varela (President-Elect)

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She moved to Tucson for a post-college volunteer program with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in 2017. She volunteered with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona for a year. This quickly became a love for Tucson and a desire to continue serving her community. After earning her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Arizona, Micaela returned to the Community Food Bank as the Volunteer Coordinator.

Lizzy Studstill (Treasurer)

Lizzy first started in the field of non-profit community organization as a volunteer, as an AmeriCorps Volunteer placed with Literacy Connects. Through that opportunity, she fell in love with adult education and language teaching and returned to the University of Arizona for her master’s in teaching English as a Second Language. Through what feels like the stars aligning just right, Lizzy was able to start working for Literacy Connects right after graduation, returning to the volunteer-driven organization that sparked her love for this work in the first place. As the Program Manager for the English Language Acquisition for Adults program, Lizzy onboards, trains, and supports a wonderful team of volunteer teachers who provide free English language classes for adult immigrants and refugees in Tucson, AZ. A transplant to Arizona originally from Atlanta, GA, in addition to the work itself, Lizzy loves this opportunity to connect with the community.

Jill LaBrie (Secretary)

Jill LaBrie had 38 years of experience working with delinquent youth with the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, as well as foster children through the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program at the Pima County Juvenile Court Center. At least 15 of those years involved recruiting, training and supervising volunteers. While Jill retired in April of 2022 she has served on the SAVMA Board in past holding positions of Membership Committee Chair, President Elect, and President. We simply could not let her retire, when she loves volunteers this much. Jill is an avid reader, likes to craft, and is a reality tv fan.

Directors At Large

Jennifer Brown (term ending 12/31/2025)

Jennifer Brown was born in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and raised in Tucson since she was four. She attended Flowing Wells district schools, kindergarten to 12th grade. After graduating high school, she joined the Navy, serving five years aboard the USS PELELIU in San Diego. After returning home, she attended the University of Arizona, where she received a degree in education with an emphasis in Deaf studies. She has been married since 2016 and has a 5-year-old daughter. When she’s not wrangling volunteers, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, riding horses, playing cards, and attending concerts.

Stephanie Chavez, term ending 12/31/2026

Stephanie Chavez, a native Tucsonan, loves working with CASA volunteers who represent and advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children during a dependency case. Stephanie received her Master of Arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix and her Bachelor of Arts & Sciences in communications from the University of Arizona. She serves on the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona and Father’s Day Council Tucson.

Stephanie Goetz, term ending 12/31/2026

Originally from the Midwest, she found her happy place in the desert of the Southwest. Stephanie loves to travel, discover new places, and meet the people who make their communities unique. When it’s not too hot, she enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, sand volleyball, reading a book by the pool, and caring for our ranch animals. She has over a decade of experience in the food & beverage industry, most of which time has been spent in the world of craft beer. The lessons learned from that time are translated to her career move to the nonprofit sector in the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, bringing people together to build a stronger community.

Gina Hansen, term ending 12/31/2025

Gina Hansen is the Volunteer Resource Manager at Habitat for Humanity Tucson. She has over 10 years of experience in all aspects of volunteer engagement, including overseeing various volunteer programs, implementing new programs, outreach, event planning, public speaking, and training. Gina is a Service Enterprise Trainer, active on two nonprofit boards. She has a small side hustle: a crafting business. When she’s not working, Gina enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and friends!

Caitlyn Keefe, term ending 12/31/2025

Caitlyn is an accounting student at The University of Arizona. In addition, she works as an accountant at the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. She moved to Tucson in December 2021 from Gurnee, Illinois, to pursue an accounting degree and escape the cold! Her dog, Mickey, came with her, and they enjoyed all the hiking and outdoor activities available there. She loved getting to know the area and the people residing here. While she does not have much experience in the nonprofit industry, she is ready to dive right in with SAVMA! She enjoys contributing to this organization and learning more about Tucson and the volunteer organizations here.

Carissa McGrath, term ending 12/31/2026

She is passionate about volunteer engagement and program management because she recognizes the considerable impact that volunteers can make on an organization. As an avid volunteer, she brings a unique perspective to program management. She strives to create a volunteer program that she would be proud to be part of as a volunteer. She has helped coordinate significant scale events of over 300 people at her current position. She was previously the events coordinator on the board of a local organization, Arizona Women’s Climbing Coalition, and hosted an event of over 250 people.

Pi Polletta, term ending 12/31/2025

When she first moved to Tucson, she worked as a Marketing Manager for a national manufacturing company. Pi enjoyed the challenge of reaching across different market segments and different states to engage people. She learned what was most important to them and what they needed most and worked to meet those needs. Feeling abundantly grateful, she decided to use her experience to help others. Shifting from a business to a nonprofit mindset. People claim you must have a passion for an organization’s mission. Pi believes you must have a passion for the type of work you do.

Now, with 15 years in nonprofit development and 25+ years of experience in marketing and communications, having held the roles of Director, Manager, Associate Director, Executive Director, and BOD member for TROT and Friends of Ironwood Forest, she serves in Leadership for SAVMA.

Veronica Saiz, term ending 12/31/2026

Veronica is the Director of Marketing and Corporate Relations at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona. She is a passionate fundraiser, community advocate, youth mentor, event planner, wife, mother, and nana! In her professional role, she works with community leaders to advocate volunteerism to change the lives of youth for the betterment of society. With SAVMA, she would be stretching her leadership muscles in new ways to support the growth of a professional association.

Rebeka Simpson, term ending 12/31/2026

Rebecca has volunteered with organizations such as the YMCA Christown, One-N-Ten, The Salvation Army, and Angel Tree since she was 10 years old. Her strong belief in the importance of volunteerism led to a career as a Volunteer Coordinator at Stillwater Hospice. She also volunteers as a school board member for the Girls Leadership Academy of Arizona, a Charter School of Chicanos Por La Causa.

Committee Leadership

Membership (Chair – Gina Hansen)

Melanie Hansen – Member
Jim Marten – Member
Jill LaBrie – Secretary
Jennifer Lohse – President (Ex-Officio)

Governance and Administration (Chair – Jill LaBrie)

Micaela Varela – President- Elect
Lizzy Studstill – Treasurer
Caitlyn Keefe – Past-Treasurer
Jennifer Lohse – President (Ex-Officio)

Communications (Chair – Stephanie Chavez)

Veronica Saiz – Director
Mikay Wright- Member
Micaela Varela- President-Elect (Ex-Officio)

Programs and Events (Chair – Pi Polletta)

Jennifer Brown – Director (Awards 2026 Chair)
Stephanie Goetz- Director
Carissa McGrath – Director
Cathy Starr- Member (VMHC 2026 Chair)
Jennifer Lohse – President (Ex-Officio)
SAVMA Fair 2026 Event Chair- Vacant

Committee charters can be found on the policies page of the website.

As SAVMA grows we have open leadership opportunities year round. Help lift your profession and join leadership here .