The Pittsburgh Foundation

Kate Dewey named new eead of Forbes Funds

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec. 4, 2012 – The Pittsburgh Foundation today announced that Kate Dewey has been appointed new president of the Forbes Funds, an affiliate organization of the Foundation. She will take up her position on January 1, 2013.

In her past roles, Kate has worked closely with nonprofit organizations, foundations and public agencies, as well as corporations, for more than 30 years including extensive consulting work that she has undertaken through a company she co-founded in 1990, Dewey & Kaye. Through mergers this is now part of ParenteBeard LLC, with whom Kate currently serves as principal.

Following a competitive search which extended beyond Pittsburgh, Kate was selected to lead the on-going strategic development of the Forbes Funds, which provides management assistance and technical expertise to the region’s nonprofit organizations, primarily those serving human services. In collaboration with the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP), the Forbes Funds also develops advocacy initiatives to help represent the charitable sector.

“We are fortunate that in Kate we have enormous expertise and understanding of our community’s charitable sector and, most importantly, the adverse economic forces that affect our region’s nonprofit organizations at this most critical time,” said Chip Burke, Jr., chair of the board of directors of the Forbes Funds.

“I am thrilled and proud that Kate is joining us. She has done a truly extraordinary job over many years in working with and helping to advance the impact, effectiveness and efficiencies of our local nonprofits and she is an accomplished, dynamic and compassionate leader.”

Kate succeeds Diana Bucco who is moving to The Buhl Foundation as vice president. Kate’s appointment follows an extensive search undertaken by a panel led by Chip Burke and comprising Grant Oliphant, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation; Marjorie Petruska, program director with the Heinz Endowments; Walter Smith, retired executive director of Family Resources and a member of The Pittsburgh Foundation’s board; Colleen Fedor, executive director of the Mentoring Partnership; and David Roger, president of Hillman Family Foundations.

“Kate is an exceptional talent and I am delighted to welcome her to The Pittsburgh Foundation’s family,” said Grant Oliphant, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “Kate has unrivalled knowledge and experience in the field, she has an astute appreciation for the challenges and opportunities facing our region’s charitable organizations and she cares deeply about the health of our nonprofit sector.”

Before establishing Dewey & Kaye, Kate was manager of Community Affairs for Mellon Bank Corporation. Previously she served as the founding executive director of Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, the local membership organization for the region’s foundations sector. She also served as the founding director of the Allegheny County Child Sexual Abuse Task Force.

Dewey & Kaye was the fifth oldest consulting firm in the United States dedicated to serving community-based nonprofits and foundations. In 2005 Dewey & Kaye merged with McCrory & McDowell, and in June last year the organization was acquired by ParenteBeard.

A former Athena Award winner, Kate is past chair of the Mentoring Partnership and is a board member of Leadership Pittsburgh and trustee of the Shirley Jordan Foundation. Previously she has served on the boards of Sewickley Valley Hospital, Coro National, the Coro Center for Civic Leadership of Pittsburgh, the Center for Performing Arts, the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Leadership Committee, Human Services Center, the Society for the Arts in Craft, the Allegheny County Children and Youth Services Advisory Committee, the Allegheny County Hunger Task Force and the Citizen’s League of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Kate received her bachelor’s degree from Rider College and a master of social work from Rutgers University. She was certified in 1995 as a management trainer by the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute, an international educational organization.

“For the past 30 years, the Forbes Funds has been an enduring asset in this community – supporting, informing and inspiring the nonprofit sector,” said Dewey. “I am honored to have been selected to build on that tradition to help ensure the optimum health and sustainability of our community nonprofits during this time of tremendous change.”