Originally a Chicago native, Larry and his wife, Barbara, moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1974 and recently

relocated to Gig Harbor, Washington in 2010.

Having received his degree in Advertising/Marketing from Northern Illinois University, Larry put

his advertising expertise to work with Air Canada Airlines where he developed their US/Canadian

campaigns. Soon thereafter, Bleich ‘headed west’ and launched a new career in healthcare

management. For the next 20 years he worked with Schering-Plough, PacifiCare of Arizona and Delta

Dental in senior management roles. He has served in multiple capacities in the sales and marketing

arena’s of these for-profit enterprises, won numerous awards including Sales Associate of the Year and President Award for Senior Executive of the Year and eventually rose to the position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

While in these roles he also served on various non-profit boards including Peoria Sports Council, Arizona Senior Olympics –Chairman, Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Arts and Business Council, Planned Giving Roundtable of Arizona and Arizona Visionaries.

During such tenure with these non-profits, Bleich embarked on a career move where he could take his for-profit experiences and transfer them to a non-profit environment. Accordingly, he accepted a position as Vice-President of Development with the Arizona Humane Society. Following successful campaigns there, Bleich accepted the Director of Development role at The Phoenix Symphony and successfully initiated campaigns that led to multiple record fundraising years. He was then recruited to join Phoenix Art Museum as their Major Donor Officer where he worked with major donors and planned giving initiatives.

In 2010, Larry accepted the position of Executive Director for the PenMet Foundation serving as their first E.D. In this capacity he helped guide the development and implementation of the Foundations strategic plan, designed and implemented fundraising and membership development strategies, worked to identify and recruit individuals to serve on the board of directors and select committees and initiated

the development of opportunities to build the endowment.

Bleich holds a designation of Certified Specialist in Planned Giving, an exclusive designation for those completing an in-depth discipline in planned giving and related topics and was one of only 15 such designee’s in the State of Arizona.

Bleich has served on numerous sub-committees and panels within the state of Arizona over the years and volunteers frequently with a multitude of organizations. His more high profile volunteer activities were serving as Lead Volunteer Coordinator for the PF Chang Marathon and Lead Volunteer Coordinator for the Super Bowl. As a result of his commitment to the community, Larry was bestowed the honor of Olympic torch bearer for the Winter Olympics as the torched traveled cross country.

Larry and his artist wife, Barbara, have two grown and married children, Matt and Carly and three beautiful granddaughters. They are expecting their first grandson in September of 2011. Larry and Barbara now happily reside in Gig Harbor.