The Board of Directors of Variety – the Children’s Charity of the Delaware Valley recently announced that Dominique Bernardo, MBA, MSW joined the organization as Chief Executive Officer. Bernardo has more than 17 years with Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a non-profit with a mission to enable individuals and families in predominantly Latino neighborhoods to achieve self-sufficiency and well-being. Throughout her tenure with the Philadelphia-based organization, she amassed considerable experience in every function of Congreso – from program development and delivery, to human resources, quality assurance and finance.

Another crowning achievement for Bernardo? Representing Visitation BVM Catholic School in Trooper and known then as Dominique Ponzio, Bernardo won the  annual contest  held at Norristown Area High School and went to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Scripps Howard Spelling Bee, writes Gary Puleo in The Times Herald.

“I’m convinced that was my 15 minutes of fame,” Bernardo said, laughing. “I was on the cover of The Times Herald when I was 12 or 13 and I still have it.  When I was in sixth grade I got sixth place in The Times Herald Spelling Bee; when I was in seventh grade I think I got fifth place, and when I was in eighth grade I finally won. So The Times Herald is very near and dear to my heart.”

“Dominique’s impeccable credentials, experience and philosophies stood head and shoulders above an extremely competitive field of applicants,” said Board President Jerry Bollenbach. “Her unique ability to marry business acumen with the values of the non-profit sector was particularly appealing to the board search committee, as Variety is on the cusp of significant growth and transformation in our vocational, social and educational programming and associated facilities.”

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