PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The nonprofit Philabundance is getting a new leader, at a time when the need to address hunger in our area has never been greater.
Loree Jones' career has taken her from city managing director under John Street to the nonprofit City Year, to chief of external affairs for the School District of Philadelphia, and most recently to Rutgers-Camden, where she was chief of staff to the chancellor.
On June 2, she'll take over as CEO of Philabundance. She succeeds Glenn Bergman, who left in March after nearly five years as CEO.
At a time when unemployment is spiking and more people are trying to find food in a pandemic, Jones said her biggest challenge will be matching the food supply with the growing need. Fortunately, she believes her background has taught her about management skills and the value of collaboration, which she'll draw upon.
"I definitely plan to leverage the partnerships and relationships that I already have," she said. "I also think that Philabundance has some. So I think that we'll be partnering with local governments, state government, the federal government. We'll be partnering with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Project HOME, Share, so that we can work together to identify a way to meet that need."
The 51-year-old Girls High grad was drawn to Philabundance because it was an organization that has an impact in the area where she grew up. She said Philabundance has adapted well, providing contactless delivery of food.
"We've seen kind of innovation in the moment. And so you've seen some things from Philabundance and other organizations really saying how are we going to serve in these kind of conditions? And I've been impressed in what I've seen, and I've not yet started there yet. I've been impressed with the way the Philabundance team has really adjusted over the last two months to meet the need."
