McCrae Martino named Community Foundation of Westmoreland County’s executive director

Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Lisa Schroeder recently announced Martino’s appointment, the culmination of a three-month search process that included CFWC Advisory Board members and Pittsburgh Foundation senior staff.

Schroeder described Martino, a longtime Westmoreland County resident, as “a leader who has a head-and-heart appreciation of the problems and opportunities in the county, and work experience that will increase the foundation’s effectiveness in addressing them.”

Martino, who had been serving as vice president for human services at Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania, succeeds Phil Koch, who is now vice president for policy and community impact, a new role at The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Schroeder cited Martino’s management experience involving community outreach, much of it at human services-oriented organizations, as critically important to furthering the partnerships in Westmoreland. Among them are the WestCo Nonprofit Network, a coalition of more than 160 organizations that provide opportunities for education and advocacy as well as sharing management practices to strengthen the sector across Westmoreland County.

In her position at Goodwill, Martino was responsible for nine program areas and 200 employees in the mission of providing workforce development and community human services to clients. Also an important factor in the search committee’s recommendation was Martino’s six years of experience as a senior vice president and program officer for The Forbes Funds, a supporting organization of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

In furthering its mission to support the nonprofit sector and increase its effectiveness in the region, Martino developed and monitored a $1.8 million budget, helped to manage grantmaking, developed an assessment tool for determining the state of an organization’s finances and personnel capacity and oversaw planning for the biennial Nonprofit Summit.

CFWC Advisory Board Chair Brian Lenart, who led the search committee, said he was impressed with Martino’s strong connections to the region’s foundation, government and nonprofit sectors. “We’re very excited to welcome McCrae and begin working with her on new strategies to make the best quality-of-life improvements possible for Westmoreland County. All of her experience will be invaluable, especially when combined with her personal sensibility as a county resident.”

Martino, who begins her work at CFWC April 12, said she is thrilled to have the opportunity to improve the quality of life in the community in which she lives.

“This is a dream opportunity to be able to lead an organization that is so pivotal to achieving improved quality of life in my own community,” she said. “And while I have my own perspective as a resident, my most important duty will be to make sure as many perspectives and opportunities for leadership on the part of others is represented in CFWC’s work.”