Newsroom

Message from the Board Chair and President & CEO

This past fiscal year was a full but meaningful and important year for the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. It was the first full fiscal year with new leadership in place: Erika Petrozelli as President & CEO, and Sandy Bodnyk as Board Chair. We are incredibly thankful for the unwavering support of our full Board of Governors, Staff members, fundholders, and extended LVCF family of colleagues. Our team is firing on all cylinders, and it shows in our accomplishments and service to our Lehigh Valley community. Many of these proud moments are captured in this report.

To complete the fiscal year we approved a new strategic plan, titled GROWTH THROUGH PARTNERSHIP, that will guide Staff and Board for the next three years. This plan’s mantra is TRANSFORMATIONAL, NOT TRANSACTIONAL. This mantra is a result of a shift in the LVCF’s work, visibility and partnerships over the past few years. The work of our last strategic plan brought us visibility, growth (funds, assets and partnerships), and a team with high energy and a irreplaceable synergy. We have an opportunity to build on this foundation to further establish LVCF as a trusted advisor, partner, and community leader. Our new strategic plan aims to do just that. Read the full Executive Summary that begins on the next page.

This fiscal year also brought us new challenges, notably external forces such as higher inflation, fears of a recession, and the war in Ukraine. These challenges brought more need to our community members, making our grants that much more meaningful. We thank all of our fundholders and donors who leaned in and continued to give so generously to their neighbors, despite the impact of these same challenges on their individual lives. We cannot do our work without you.

The market uncertainty also required our Board and Staff to be thoughtful in our own fiscal planning. We have a strong endowment base along with a tested reserve balance to help weather storms such as this one, which we hope brings comfort to our fundholders that LVCF is truly here for good, forever.

We look forward to working with you in the coming months to CONNECT, GROW, and FUND.