Berks County Community Foundation

Berks County Community Foundation

Berks County Community Foundation launched in 1994 with a $1 million operating grant from the Wyomissing Foundation, placing Kevin Murphy at the helm as President and CEO. The foundation serves as a public benefit organization focused on improving quality of life across Berks County, Pennsylvania, through grants, scholarships, and charitable support. Its initial backers positioned it as a permanent philanthropic vehicle for a region historically tied to manufacturing and agriculture. The foundation pursues a multi-asset investment strategy that includes venture capital, buyout, distressed debt, early-stage startups, mezzanine, and secondaries, along with direct real estate holdings like its headquarters at 237 Court Street and a residential property on Old Fritztown Road. This hybrid approach blends traditional grant-making corpus management with fund-of-funds commitments and direct co-investment structures. The real assets footprint includes mixed-use holdings through its subsidiary, Berks County Community Foundation Properties II, Inc., while named philanthropic vehicles such as the Berks Nature Endowment Fund and the Russell L. Hiller Charitable Trust sit alongside the main pool. Board leadership includes Chair Susan Denaro, an attorney at Georgeadis Setley, Vice Chair P. Sue Perrotty, CEO of Tower Health, and Secretary Jay Wagner, a shareholder at Stevens & Lee. COO and CFO Frances Aitken oversees financial operations, while Audit Committee Chair Michael Rowley, a senior director at Herbein + Company, provides independent oversight. The foundation maintains active memberships in the Council on Foundations, Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, and Community Foundations of Pennsylvania. Unlike many community foundations that outsource asset management entirely, Berks County Community Foundation directly holds real estate and participates in alternatives alongside more traditional grant-making portfolios, giving it a hybrid operating company–endowment structure. This internal direct-deal capability, governed by a board drawn from local legal and healthcare leadership, creates a localized investment posture rare among foundations of its size.