Law professor Joins August Wilson Center Board
PITTSBURGH, June 21, 2016 – Last Tuesday, the August Wilson Center welcomed new board member Tracey McCants Lewis, whose legal expertise and deep ties to the region will bolster efforts to reinvent the cultural center and assure its vibrant and financially healthy future. The 45-year-old Manchester resident is assistant clinical professor at Duquesne University School of Law. She joins Richard Taylor, CEO of ImbuTec, and Michael Polite, chairman and CEO of Ralph A. Falbo, Inc. who were both appointed in August 2015. Each is serving a three-year term.
“Tracey has outstanding credentials as a lawyer and deep connections to the regional community. What I appreciate most about her is her level-headedness,” said Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation.
King – along with Scott Izzo, director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant – is a founding board member of the African American Cultural Center, the nonprofit organization that oversees the August Wilson Center. Additional board members are being sought to broaden the board’s expertise and oversight capabilities. Programming and daily operations of the center are operated by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Speaking of her commitment to the board, McCants Lewis said, “I’m committed to and excited about creating a Center that offers inclusive, relevant and exciting programming. When the people of Pittsburgh recognize the August Wilson Center as their own, then we’ll have real and long-lasting success.”
The August Wilson Center is well on the way to a healthy recovery. Revenue and expenses are within the Center’s budget. Expenses are estimated at $1.5 million for 2016 and are expected to come in lower than revenues. Likewise, fundraising is healthy. $1.55 million in contributed revenue was budgeted for 2016. Year to date, the Center has raised $1.25 million and is on track to raise the remaining $300,000 from foundation sources. In addition to fundraising, the Center is actively presenting arts and cultural programs. Booking requests continue to come in via the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Descriptions of upcoming programs are available on the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s website.
About Tracey McCants Lewis: McCants Lewis teaches in Duquesne’s Civil Rights Clinic and Unemployment Compensation Clinic. Her scholarly research focuses on critical race theory, feminist legal theory, legal storytelling in clinical legal education and re-entry justice. Last year, the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh named her a Racial Justice Award honoree. McCants Lewis was appointed to the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board in 2013. She served as the chair of the Allegheny County, Courts Administration Vision Team Committee in 2012. McCants Lewis was named recipient of the 2012 NAACP Pittsburgh - Homer S. Brown Award for Legal Service and the 2012 Urban League Young Professionals of Greater Pittsburgh - Decade of Dedication Award. She serves as a member of the Urban League Young Professionals and was a 2005 recipient of Pittsburgh Magazine’s “40 Under 40 Award” and the New Pittsburgh Courier’s “Fabulous 40” award.
Prior to teaching, she was an associate with K&L Gates LLP and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Max Baer of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. McCants Lewis earned her B.A. in political science from Gannon University and her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, where she served on the Duquesne Law Review board and was the recipient of the National Association of Women Lawyers - Outstanding Woman Law Graduate of 2000.
