As a part of national expansion plans, Bernie’s Book Bank recently announced the appointment of Jenna Renno as Executive Director of Bernie’s Book Bank Greater Milwaukee. This is a big step forward for Bernie’s Book Bank as it looks to build upon its success in Chicagoland and expand nationally.
Jenna Renno began her fundraising career – unexpectedly – over 20 years ago. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she double majored in Spanish and Communications, intending for a career in PR or journalism until she discovered a love for serving others at a small, all-girls school for Latinas on Milwaukee’s Southside.
She previously worked with fundraising teams at Milwaukee Film, Radio Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. At the Muscular Dystrophy Association, she managed a long-standing corporate partnership with Harley-Davidson Motor Company and grew an annual fundraising gala into one of the largest charitable events in Milwaukee.
Renno will collaborate with the Greater Milwaukee Task Force with a goal to have a dedicated Bernie’s Book Bank facility in place and operational by the end of 2025 and serve an estimated 96,000 qualifying children in Greater Milwaukee by the end of 2026.
Bernie’s Book Bank recently completed a five-year Randomized Control Trial (RCT) from 2019 – 2023, conducted by Dr. Geoffrey Borman and generously funded by the Arnold Family Foundation, to measure the efficacy of their program. The RCT was conducted in partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools, where 30 schools received books and 30 schools did NOT, acting as the control group. The report concluded statistically significant impact on student reading achievement, as well as positive impacts on related outcomes. Even better, the effect appears to grow over time.
