Jesse rendell biography

When Jesse Rendell was a boy in East Falls, he was — like his father, former mayor and governor Ed Rendell — a sports fanatic. He played everything, from football to baseball to basketball, at McDevitt Recreation Center on Scotts Lane.

Now, Rendell’s own son plays sports at McDevitt, and travels to rec centers in the area as part of the Mt.

Airy Stars travel baseball team. So he gets it.

“I am very familiar with how pivotal a role a rec center can play in a child’s life,” Rendell says. “Especially considering the situation we’re facing now, having a place where kids can have safe spaces is so important.”

In February, Rendell became the new executive director of Make the World Better Foundation, former Eagle Connor Barwin’s nonprofit that renovates city parks and rec centers in underserved neighborhoods around the city.

He stepped in to the role at the tail end of a multi-year community engagement effort around Vare Recreation Center