Jen Giovannitti is the President and a Trustee of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, a private family foundation founded in 1944. The Foundation generally invests two-thirds of its grant dollars in West Virginia and one-third in Southwestern Pennsylvania, making it a place-based funder with a dedication to rural communities.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Giovannitti led community-based initiatives for seven years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, working regionally and nationally on issues facing low income communities and advancing strategies for community investment. She has authored a variety of reports, publications, and opinion essays, and has applied her expertise broadly in rural development strategies. Ms. Giovannitti lived in West Virginia for 11 years, first serving as the director of the office of the Elkins rail yard redevelopment, then serving as chief executive of the Randolph County Economic Development Authority and West Virginia Wood Technology Center. In her role leading the county’s economic development agency, she was committed to advancing workforce development and supporting the many businesses and local manufacturing operations in the region.
Ms. Giovannitti currently serves on local, regional and national boards, including the Board of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (Pittsburgh), is a Trustee of Davis and Elkins College (West Virginia), and is a partner with the Richard King Mellon Foundation and The Heinz Endowments in Almono, LLC (Pittsburgh). She is board member of the International Women’s Forum and serves on the National Advisory Council for Building Healthy Places (national) and the Community Advisory Board for Truist Bank (regional). She also is a member of the Investment Committee for the Strategic Investment Fund (Pittsburgh-regional).