
When 2024 came to a close, it marked the end of the public career of Doug Root, a man of letters who for the past 45 years has been deeply involved in the civic life of his hometown of Pittsburgh – in the newsroom of Pittsburgh’s biggest Pulitzer-Prize winning daily paper, in the corridors of power in City Hall and in the inner sanctum of two of Pittsburgh’s key philanthropic foundations as they helped guide the city’s future.
Joining The Pittsburgh Foundation in 2014, Root served as vice president, Communications and External Affairs, responsible for all internal and external communications, marketing and branding of key programs. Previously, he directed communications and public affairs for The Heinz Endowments, served as communications director for Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and was an award-winning writer for The Pittsburgh Press.
“Doug’s been kind of a Pittsburgh institution in many ways,” said Jack McGinley, board chair of The Pittsburgh Foundation and an attorney with Eckert Seamans. “Once they tapped my shoulder and asked me to chair the board, I got to work with him on a variety of issues. I find him to be perceptive and able to take that perceptiveness and translate it into the written word – a terrific talent. But I’ve also been impressed with his facility to migrate from the pure written word to video and other means of presentation. He has a keen sense of this region and community and very good political instincts. He’s a great collaborator, ready to join the team and contribute wherever he can.”
As a young Penn State journalism grad, Root spent the first decade of his career at The Pittsburgh Press, then the best daily in the 21-newspaper chain owned by the Scripps Howard corporation. He combined a sophisticated flair for writing with the ability to mix it up on the rough and tumble general assignment beat, (and he was an early friend and mentor to the writer of this story). Root worked there during the paper’s glory days when it won two Pulitzer Prizes, including the highest Pulitzer, the Gold Medal for Public service. When that paper closed after a long and bitter Teamsters strike, Root taught writing at the University of Pittsburgh and he freelanced, soon making the leap into city politics, serving for several years as communications director for then Mayor Tom Murphy.
It was there that Root first became acquainted with Lisa Schroeder, now president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, but back then, from 2002-2015, she was the founding executive director of Riverlife, a fledgling concept to improve Pittsburgh’s rivers. “I remember the day I met Doug as if it were yesterday,” Schroeder said. “Riverlife was both novel and unorthodox, bringing together 44 leaders to determine a vision for the rivers. By necessity, it had to be a public-private partnership. Doug had that sensibility to know what it took to bring the public and private sectors together. We had a number of politically sensitive situations – Riverlife was controversial in the media – and Doug was the one who sat with me and drafted our public statements and positions. He provided counsel to me every step of the way.”
Maxwell King, the former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and later president and CEO of both the Heinz Endowments and then The Pittsburgh Foundation, was the man who lured Root into the philanthropic realm.
“When I took over the Heinz Endowments, I discovered to my amazement that there was no communication effort -- just a static website,” said King. “The attitude was, ‘Our good works will speak for themselves.’" King didn’t agree and, with Endowments colleague Grant Oliphant, devised a new plan, which included a magazine.
“We soon discovered we needed help, so we brought Doug aboard, and the three of us embraced the idea that the way to communicate was great storytelling – not a bunch of essays, just tell stories. And Doug caught fire. He loved it, and for five or six years, we had so much fun -- we all loved the writing and storytelling, and we did it together.”
And it was King, who in 2014 asked Root to come and lead communications at The Pittsburgh Foundation. “Doug made an immediate impact,” King said. “He enlivened everything. The key to Doug Root is that through the years, first as a journalist and then working with these two foundations, he honed his skills and became a really great narrative writer and editor.
“He also became one of the top leaders of the staff at The Pittsburgh Foundation -- a great influence. When I got there, the culture was rough. The competition was rough. I wanted to make it a more collegial place, like a newsroom, and Doug helped me do that. He gained influence with the directors and staff because they knew they could trust him to tell the truth and to keep their confidence. And beyond all of that, he’s a great friend.”
After Riverlife, Schroeder ultimately left Pittsburgh for a job in her native Baltimore at the Parks and People Foundation. But she returned to Pittsburgh in June of 2019 to succeed King at the helm of The Pittsburgh Foundation. And right after she accepted the post, the phone rang and a friendly, familiar voice was on the other end to congratulate her and prepare the announcement.
“I was so happy to hear Doug’s voice,” she said, going on to describe the roles he’s played in the past five years. “Doug has worked on at least three levels here. He keeps up with the news, the issues and all of the causes that the Foundation works with. He tracks, long term, the deep and sometimes philosophical challenges around complex issues such as threats to democracy and to journalism, gun violence and climate change. And he sees and presents opportunities the Foundation can offer to the community. And, of course, the messaging for the Foundation.”
“When we created our new strategic plan, putting into words the priorities and commitments we were making -- I wasn’t sure that our releasing a strategic plan was news. But Doug seized the opportunity to truly reveal and explain our new commitments, what was changing, including catalyzing partnerships and our commitment to racial justice."
-- Lisa Schroeder, President and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation
Schroeder said she’ll miss Root but is happy for what lies ahead for him.
“He’ll come into my office – he shuffles his feet – and he’s usually holding a piece of paper, and I think, ‘Uh oh, something big is dropping.’ He has a calm presence paired with a deeply passionate level of interest in civic affairs. It’s an interesting combination.
“On a personal level, Doug is quietly hilarious. He’s deeply empathetic. He is incredibly dedicated to his enormous family – his siblings, nieces and nephews. He’s a man of words, a true writer. And that’s one of the reasons I’m super excited for him. With his retirement from the Foundation, he’s going to be able to do a lot of things.”