Bruce S. Trachtenberg was named executive director of the Communications Network in May 2006. During his career, which spans 40 years, he has worked as a general assignment and sports reporter; held communications positions in the banking, forest products, and technology industries; served in senior management at two national grantmaking foundations; and helped launch an online magazine.

Between 2000 and 2006, Trachtenberg had been with the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, serving during his last year there as a communications consultant, and for five years before that as director of communications. Trachtenberg played a key role in helping build awareness of the foundation’s transition from a grantmaker that worked across several program areas to one that worked exclusively to help promising youth organizations grow stronger and larger so they could help young people in low-income communities make a successful transition to adulthood.

In 2000, Trachtenberg served as a senior producer for Worth.com, a startup venture between Worth Interactive and Worth magazine. Trachtenberg created and oversaw the online publication’s philanthropy channel, which provided news, articles and feature stories designed to help wealthy individuals learn how to give their money and time effectively to worthy causes.

Trachtenberg came to Worth.com from the then DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund and Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund (now the Wallace Foundation), where he had served since 1992 as their first director of communications. Trachtenberg joined the foundations during the period they grew from small, family foundations to leading national grantmakers that focused on youth, education, arts and culture.

From 1982 to 1992, Trachtenberg had been with the Reader’s Digest Association, where he held a variety of communications posts for the publishing and direct mail marketing company. In his last position as Public Relations Director, Trachtenberg served on teams that took the company public after nearly 75 years of operations as a private enterprise and that launched local language editions of Reader’s Digest magazine in Russia and Hungary.

In earlier years, Trachtenberg was on the communications staff for IBM, and before that worked for Louisiana Pacific and First National Bank of Oregon.

He began his career in 1972 as a general assignment and sports reporter for The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Portland State University.

Contact information: brucet@comnetwork.org or 212-731-2268.