Ronnie Bloom

Philadelphia, PA (June 4) – Stoneleigh Foundation (Stoneleigh) today announced the appointment of Ronnie L. Bloom as Executive Director. Ms. Bloom begins the position this week working alongside outgoing Executive Director Cathy Weiss. In December, Ms. Weiss announced her decision to step down after leading the foundation for the last four years. Stoneleigh was founded in 2006 by the late John and Chara Haas to improve the life outcomes of vulnerable and underserved youth. It targets young people impacted by violence as well as those in thechild welfare and juvenile justice systems—or at risk of involvement in those systems. It meets its mission through fellowship awards that support accomplished individuals working to improve these systems through research, policy change or practice improvement. Under the direction of Ms. Weiss, Stoneleigh became one of the region’s and nation’s leaders on youth violence prevention and providing alternatives to incarceration for youth offenders. Today, Stoneleigh Fellows are impacting practice in Philadelphia and beyond. To date, 18 Stoneleigh Fellowships and 20 Emerging Leader Fellowships have been awarded. Ms. Bloom is best known in the Philadelphia community for her 13 years as a program director and officer at the William Penn Foundation. There she directly managed statewide and regional strategic grantmaking of over $22 million a year in areas of early care and education, public education, youth development and nonprofit capacity building. Most recently, Ms. Bloom was a partner with Opportunities Exchange, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in early education, child care policy and systems change. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, Ms. Bloom was a member of Stoneleigh’s board of directors. She currently serves on the board of the First Hospital Foundation, and she is a member of the Greenlight Fund Selection Advisory Committee. Well respected in both the philanthropic and nonprofit communities in the Philadelphia region, Ms. Bloom also has served as president of the board of Delaware Valley Grantmakers, recently renamed as The Philanthropy Network. Prior to her tenure at the William Penn Foundation, Ms. Bloom was a litigation and family law attorney for Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel. She received her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated summa cum laude. She also received First Class Honors in the Faculty of Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Stoneleigh Foundation Board Chair Carole Haas Gravagno said, “While we are saying goodbye to Cathy Weiss, who has been an incredible innovator and leader and took this foundation to a new level, we are honored to have Ronnie Bloom accept the role as our new Executive Director. She brings a wealth of knowledge to Stoneleigh, as well as a deep understanding of philanthropy and foundations. John and Chara Haas would be so proud to know that Ronnie is now leading the implementation of their vision and upholding the mission.”