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LOREE D. JONES NAMED NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PHILABUNDANCE
PHILADELPHIA, PA—(May 5, 2020)—The Board of Directors of Philabundance, the 35-year-old nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger in the Delaware Valley, announced today the selection of Loree D. Jones as chief executive officer, succeeding Glenn Bergman, who left the organization at the end of March after a successful tenure as executive director. Jones will begin her new position on June 2.
Jones, most recently the chief of staff to the chancellor of Rutgers University-Camden, has served in leadership positions in nonprofit organizations, education and city government throughout her career. Prior to her service at Rutgers, Jones was chief of external affairs for the School District of Philadelphia, coordinating strategic communications and governmental affairs for the nation’s eighth largest school district and managing advocacy efforts with external partners. She also served as managing director for the City of Philadelphia in the John Street administration, overseeing 16 operating departments and offices with close to 20,000 employees and a $3.2 billion operating budget.
Her extensive nonprofit experience includes serving as co-executive director of City Year Greater Philadelphia, an educational nonprofit that deploys young leaders for a year of service as tutors and mentors to public school students, and as executive director of the African Studies Association (ASA), the largest scholarly association for the study of Africa in the world. She currently serves on multiple nonprofit boards of directors, including the Philadelphia Health Partnership, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Independence Foundation.
“Philabundance has been a long-time leader in the fight against food insecurity for our region’s most vulnerable citizens. I’m honored to join this organization of passionate and talented professionals and its forward-looking board of directors,” Jones said. “We have both opportunities and challenges ahead of us, but we are uniquely positioned to garner growing support, partner with public and private organizations and continue to innovate while increasing our positive impact for those in need.”
Philabundance has long played a critical role in distributing food to those who have the greatest needs, delivering nearly 30 million pounds of food to help more than 700,000 people throughout nine counties in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey who struggle with food insecurity. Many of those citizens were already facing hunger issues because of the region’s high poverty rate; that number has rapidly increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Philabundance has remained open throughout the pandemic, increasing its efforts to ensure that no one in our communities lacks access to food – especially healthy food that can improve wellness and quality of life.
Jones added: “We must address the immediate needs of Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey and prepare Philabundance to serve as a resource and partner during the post-COVID rebuilding period and in the years to come.”
“Loree has consistently delivered extraordinary results in the nonprofit and public sectors. The programs she has put in place have helped countless people throughout our region,” said John Hollway, chair of the Philabundance board and associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
He added: “To achieve our goal of reducing not just hunger but also poverty in the Delaware Valley, we will need to continue to expand our current services and work with like-minded organizations in the Philadelphia area such as Project HOME and others to redesign our region’s social safety net. Loree’s background and talents make her the perfect person to lead our organization to these new heights.”
“Philabundance is fortunate to have recruited such a dedicated and dynamic CEO. Loree truly understands the needs of people who are living in poverty or who are especially struggling now during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Project HOME President Sister Mary Scullion. “Loree served on our Project HOME board for years and was an outstanding Trustee. She has a breadth of leadership experience in the public and private sector, and she is incredibly innovative and collaborative.”
Hollway also had words of praise for Bergman: “For the last five years, Glenn Bergman helped Philabundance improve the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of people in the nine counties Philabundance serves. The board sincerely appreciates his integrity and his leadership.”
Jones, a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Spelman College, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Master of Arts degree in history from Princeton University. As an Eisenhower Fellow, she studied how South African municipalities provide social services. She is an alumna of the British American Project, a transatlantic fellowship for leaders, rising stars and opinion-formers from a broad spectrum of occupations, backgrounds and political views.
She was the first recipient of the Urban League of Philadelphia’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Young Leader Award, was listed as one of the “10 People Under 40 to Watch” by the Philadelphia Tribune Magazine and was twice recognized by Leadership Philadelphia as a “Connector” – one who connects for the common good.
About Philabundance
Philabundance is one of the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organizations, driving hunger from our communities today and ending hunger for good. In 2019, it distributed more than 26 million pounds through a network of 350 partners, and partnerships with hospitals, schools, libraries and other service providers. Philabundance serves more than 90,000 people each week, 30 percent of whom are children, 16 percent of whom are seniors, and other people served include college students, single parents and the working class.”
