Judy Sjostedt Ritchie

Executive Director of the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and Regional Affiliates (PACF) in WV from June 1999 through July 2023, Judy led the PACF through 24 years of rapid growth from $7.6 million in total assets (1999) to more than $80 million with its annual grant making increasing from $340,000 (1999) to more than $3M. The PACF’s Board honored her in July 2023 with the title for lifetime of Executive Director Emerita in recognition of her accomplishments. 

Judy presently manages RCOM and RRES, two family-owned community and economic development companies devoted to the betterment of Ravenswood, WV. She and her second husband, Doug, founded the Fund for Ravenswood of PACF to support philanthropic causes and projects.

Recent years' honors and awards include:  2019 Recipient of the Secretary of HUD’s Award for Public Private Partnerships for PACF’s Civic Leaders Fellowship program; 2018 “Spirit of Service” Summer Honoree Award WV Executive Magazine; 2018 Philanthropy WV Critical Impact Award for Grantmaking for the PACF’s Give Local MOV Initiative; 2016 "West Virginia Wonder Woman” by WV Focus Magazine and 2015 "Business Person of the Year" by the Mid-Ohio Valley Chamber of Commerce. PACF received the 2013 Philanthropy WV Critical Impact Award for her design of its Civic Leaders Fellowship initiative.

Sjostedt Ritchie chairs the Board of Directors of the Highmark WV Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Highmark Senior Solutions companies, with service beginning in 2004 on  the organization’s predecessor’s Board. She also serves on the boards of the Highmark Foundation, chairing its Audit Committee, and the Highmark WV Charitable Fund.

She served on the Board of CEONet and previously served two terms on the Council on Foundations Community Foundations Leadership Team. She chaired the 2014 National Standards review process and remains active with the Council on Foundations, having taught for more than a decade for the COF Center for Community Foundations Excellence. She currently helps to instruct the Community Foundation Fundamentals course. She is the co-presenter for the Kansas Association for Community Foundations’ Express Training online video series with Steve Alley.

She serves on the Board of the WV Education Alliance, a statewide public private partnership to enhance public education. In recent years, she concluded board terms on the CF Insights Advisory Board (now Candid, following merger with Guidestar), WV Small Business Development Council Advisory Board and WV Neighborhood Investment Tax Credit Advisory Board.

Judy holds a Master's Degree in public administration from West Virginia University. Her career has spanned all three economic sectors - government, nonprofit and for-profit. Prior positions included business partnerships program manager for the Education Alliance; president of Key Consultants serving the chemical industries in WV, OH and NJ); international employee coordinator/consultant to DuPont-Washington Works, WV; and Equal Employment Opportunity program manager with the Internal Revenue Service.

She is an alumna of the Rotary Group Study Exchange program, participating for 30 days in Taegu, South Korea. She is a former elected member of the Wood County Board of Education (1994-2002), serving as its President from 1998-2000. Her favorite title is grandma, with nine grandchildren to date.