Lori Bertman Named Voting Member for the Tony Gwynn Community Service Trophy
College Baseball Foundation trustee and national philanthropy leader brings decades of service and a lifelong connection to college baseball to the award honoring student-athletes who give back.
The College Baseball Foundation (CBF) and the College Baseball Hall of Fame are proud to announce that CBF Trustee Lori J. Bertman has been appointed a voting member for the Tony Gwynn Community Service Trophy. Presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the Gwynn Trophy recognizes NCAA baseball student-athletes whose commitment to community service and volunteerism reflects the legacy of the late Hall of Famer and longtime San Diego State head coach Tony Gwynn. First presented at the 2025 Men’s College World Series, the trophy is decided by a panel of NCBWA board members, select college baseball coaches and national media members.
“Lori embodies exactly what this award stands for,” said Tom Jacobs, CEO and Executive Director of the College Baseball Foundation and College Baseball Hall of Fame. “She grew up in college baseball, and she has dedicated her career to helping others give back. There is no one better suited to help recognize the student-athletes who are making a difference off the field.”
The youngest daughter of the late LSU coach and inaugural College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Skip Bertman, Lori has been a CBF Trustee since 2024 and helps present the Foundation’s annual awards, including the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year Award, presented by Marucci Sports. She serves on the board of Athletes for Hope, founded Athletes for Hope University at LSU and is an ambassador for Positive Athlete, which honors high school student-athletes who give back. Lori also teaches sports philanthropy as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, serves on the Hockey Hall of Fame fundraising committee and the founding board of the International Blind Ice Hockey Foundation, and brought the Miracle League to Baton Rouge, giving people with physical and mental disabilities the chance to play organized baseball.
Lori is founder and president of Bertman + Associates, a consultancy that advises funders and nonprofits, and spent more than two decades as president and CEO of the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, Louisiana’s largest private family foundation. In 2010, she co-founded the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, where she is chair emerita; CDP has granted more than $60 million for disaster recovery worldwide and earned a 2021 CNN Heroes Award for its COVID-19 response. She also co-founded City Year Louisiana, serves on the advisory board of the Children’s Health Fund and promotes sun safety in sports through the RDK Melanoma Foundation.
“I was raised to believe that college baseball was about developing people just as much as players,” said Bertman. “I’ve always had a deep admiration for Tony Gwynn as both a player and for the example he set with his off-field leadership in community service. The Gwynn Trophy celebrates the young men who carry that spirit into their communities, and I’m honored to help shine a light on them.”
