Lori Bertman Named to AFH Board of Directors
Athletes for Hope is thrilled to announce longtime collaborator, partner and supporter, Lori J. Bertman to our Board of Directors. Over the years, Ms. Bertman has been a prominent and steadfast supporter of our AFH University program, specifically in Baton Rouge, and has most recently championed our work in the mental health space.
Currently, she is President and CEO of the Baton Rouge based Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, Louisiana’s largest private family foundation. The foundation gives grants annually throughout Southern Louisiana and nationally.
In addition to her role at the Pennington Family Foundation, she is a noted national expert in disaster philanthropy. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Bertman organized local and national philanthropic resources to raise over $40 million to contribute to recovery efforts.
In 2010, Ms. Bertman co-founded the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, based in Washington, DC. This organization is the first of its kind, and exists to advise donors on effective disaster giving, both nationally and internationally. In 2021, Ms. Bertman retired from her position as CDP’s first Board Chair, and now serves as Chair Emerita. During her tenure as board chair, CDP has granted over $80 million to organizations working in disaster recovery. Previously Ms. Bertman co-founded City Year Louisiana. She currently serves on the advisory board for the Children’s Health Fund in New York City.
Ms. Bertman serves as a strategic consultant to both local and national organizations. In this capacity she has provided a cohesive vision for deepening the role of philanthropy in disaster management, fostered private/public partnerships for disaster response, and advised donors on effective long-term disaster grantmaking. She has also presented at regional and national conferences in these areas, in addition to general fundraising and resource development.
Ms. Bertman founded and operates Bertman + Associates, a philanthropy advising and fund development consulting firm, where she has worked with nonprofit organizations, foundations, corporations, and individual donors in the areas of fund development and strategic philanthropy, including managing capital, annual and planned giving campaigns.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Bertman served as the first Director of Donor Services for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation where she managed over 300 donor-advised funds.
As a coach’s daughter, Ms. Bertman has been surrounded by sports her entire life. She has worked with Athletes for Hope University and is currently developing programs related to athletes and mental health with multiple partners. Ms. Bertman has a passion for hockey and a strong relationship with the NHL and their Hockey is for Everyone programming. She is the first “fan” to serve on a Hockey Hall of Fame Board Committee (Fundraising Strategy Committee). Ms. Bertman has also assisted the museum in both their diversity and COVID exhibits and programming. As an avid female collector, she has been profiled in sports magazines such as Upper Deck and Beckett Hockey.
Ms. Bertman has been honored with a National Leadership Award of Advocate of the Year by Share Our Strength, as well as recognized in the Baton Rouge Business Report’s Top 40 under 40 in 2000. In 2011, Ms. Bertman was honored by City Year Louisiana as a “Visionary Leader.” In 2013, she was recognized in Baton Rouge Business Report’s Influential Women in Business. In 2015 she was awarded the first Leader Award by the National VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters) as well as the Volunteer Activist Award from the Emerge Center. Most recently, she was recognized by the InRegister as a 2022 Woman with a Cause.
Ms. Bertman holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree from Louisiana State University.
We are thrilled to have Ms. Bertman on our Board and look forward to all of the great work ahead in making the world a better place.