In The News

STYX have been linked with the Steelers for a number of years. With the song ‘Renegade’ an adopted team song, the band have also played the National Anthem at numerous match days over the years. The band filmed a new socially distanced video for the track ‘Too Much Time On My Hands’, which you can see below, and they are asking fans for donations to the Pittsburgh Foundation Emergency Action Fund.

Officials at the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County are launching a search for a new executive director, following the announcement Tuesday that Phil Koch is moving into a new post at The Pittsburgh Foundation. Koch will maintain his post with the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, where he served for five years, while officials seek a successor. Koch will transition into the role of vice president for Policy and Community Impact at The Pittsburgh Foundation.

A Chronicle of Philanthropy report found charitable giving in the first half of 2020 exceeded the same period in 2019 by 7.5%. Experts said much of that was driven by a 19.2% increase in the number of contributions of $250 or less.

As a program officer for education at The Pittsburgh Foundation, Jamillia Kamara focuses on funding the out-of-school programs and providers that have always been crucial in filling the gaps for working parents. 

As the Rev. Glenn Grayson looks back at the decadelong “journey without Jeron,” he recalls some of the final words of his son. Jeron X. Grayson had just survived a serious auto accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in October 2010 on a weekend trip home to Pittsburgh from college. "He came home and said, ‘I'm gonna take CARES global and to another level,’” said Rev. Grayson, founder of the social service organization Center that CARES. “I couldn't understand what that meant. Thirty-six hours later, he was gone. I can't believe 10 years have come and gone.” Rev.

As one of the city’s major philanthropies, the Pittsburgh Foundation has established a reputation for providing support to people of color. But recent events, including the deaths of Black people at the hands of police and protests against institutional racism, have led the foundation’s leaders to reassess the depth of that commitment. On Monday, the Pittsburgh Foundation announced the establishment of a $1.5 million Grantmaking for Racial Justice Fund. The thrust of the idea is to quickly provide grants to organizations that are led by and serve people of color.

Three Beaver County artists will be featured in a virtual event Sept. 29 hosted by New Sun Rising and RiverWise and supported by The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Emergency Action Fund that asked artists to create visual art reflecting the effect of COVID-19 on their community. Erin Ninehouser, a photographer from Ambridge; Marlon Gist, a fine artist from Aliquippa; and Katie Stone, a ceramics sculptor from Ambridge were among six selected to participate in Exploring COVID-19 Impacts Through Visual Art, which provided each with $2,500 to create their visual art.

In the wake of global unrest around racial bias and disparities, the Pittsburgh Foundation has rolled out a new fund totaling $1.5 million to support groups and initiatives working toward racial and socioeconomic equity in Allegheny County. The Grantmaking for Racial Justice Fund will distribute grants of up to $100,000 to nonprofits that engage in programs that benefit low-income residents or programs that will spur change to eliminate systemic racism.

According to the Black Girls Equity Alliance report, Black girls ages 10-17 in Allegheny County are 10 times more likely than white girls to be referred to the juvenile justice system. Black boys are 7 times more likely to be referred than white boys. Referrals include those from magisterial district judges and from schools. Referrals are 56% higher for Black girls in Allegheny County than those nationwide and 23% higher for Black boys compared with referrals of that group of children nationwide, the report said.

Jessica Gaynelle Moss in an artist, independent curator, and arts worker focused on new frameworks and strategies to build, maintain, and sustain Black autonomous spaces. She is the Founder and Director of The Roll Up CLT Artist Residency in Charlotte, NC; the Administrative Director of Sibyls Shrine, an artist residency for Black creative mothers created by Professor Alisha Wormsley; and Philanthropy Fellow at The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.