Cathy Lewis Long is the founding Executive Director of The Sprout Fund, a non-profit organization that supported innovative ideas and grassroots community projects that catalyzed change in Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Under Cathy’s leadership, Sprout invested more than $4 million in more than 600 early-stage ideas in areas as varied as learning innovation, arts and culture, transportation, biodiversity, and civic engagement. Sprout also served as steward of the Remake Learning Network through 2016.

As a speaker, Cathy has presented on grassroots approaches to catalyzing innovation and learning networks at several national conferences including the Games for Change Festival, the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations national conference, Open Badges Summit to Reconnect Learning, Oppi Festival NYC, Techonomy: Detroit, and internationally at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE).

As an active member of many of Pittsburgh’s civic and cultural organizations, Cathy currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Cathy is a former board member of Artist and Cities, Beginning with Books, the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, the Ellis School, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, and Working Order.

Cathy graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a dual degree in Professional Writing and Literary Cultural Studies. She is a native of Pittsburgh and lives in the East End neighborhood of Squirrel Hill with her husband, Rob Long, and their three children, Mathew, Evie, and Chloe.