Karla Valas

Karla Valas is managing director of the Complex Asset Group at Fidelity Charitable®, an independent public charity that has helped donors support more than 190,000 nonprofit organizations with nearly $19 billion in grants since its inception in 1991. The mission of Fidelity Charitable® is to further the American tradition of philanthropy by providing programs that make charitable giving simple and effective. Ms. Valas assumed her current position in 2007. She brings deep knowledge and technical expertise to donors who wish to contribute sophisticated assets, such as privately held C-corp or S-corp shares, to charity. She and her team work directly with donors, their advisors, and corporate and business lawyers to facilitate the charitable transfer of these assets to achieve the most favorable tax treatment with the greatest charitable impact. Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Valas spent more than eight years as chief compliance officer for Fidelity Charitable, with responsibility for providing integrated tax, legal, and compliance support for the donor-advised fund program. Ms. Valas joined Fidelity Investments in 1998. Prior to joining Fidelity Charitable she was Director within Fidelity’s Institutional Retirement Services Corporation. Before joining Fidelity, Ms. Valas was an appellate court attorney for the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division Third Judicial Department. Ms. Valas received her bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and sociology from Mount Holyoke College, her juris doctorate from the New England School of Law, and a master of laws degree in taxation from Boston University School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New York.