In The News

Kelly Uranker, director of the Center for Philanthropy at the Pittsburgh Foundation, also sees these statistics proven true in her foundation’s vol­unteer pool, particularly regarding the working woman. Statistics show 27.2% of employed people volunteer versus 23.3% of unemployed. “We see women taking significant roles in our programs,” Uranker says. “The women who are participating are primarily full-time working women, mothers or not, who come into this with a lifetime of working and prior volunteering experiences.” 

The Pittsburgh Foundation believes the plan is a “very important initiative in terms of where resources will be going and for what over the next decade,” according to spokesman Doug Root. Foundation president Maxwell King has been meeting with the mayor’s administration on OnePGH, but Mr. Root directed detailed questions back to the mayor’s office until the plan’s public launch.

Pittsburgh’s community and political leaders were gathered in East Liberty to celebrate the second anniversary of the All-In Pittsburgh Equitable Development Collaborative, a coalition of community organizations dedicated to racial and economic justice. As dozens of activists and members of the media crowded into the lobby of the historic theater, they heard from speakers including the artist Jasiri X of 1Hood Media, Neighborhood Allies President Presley Gillespie, Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Maxwell King, Pittsburgh City Council member Ricky Burgess and Mayor Bill Peduto.

Learn how our foundation and The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County have created initiatives to engage younger generations in charitable giving.

Aldwyth, a South Carolina-based visual artist based on Hilton Head, is the recipient of the annual award bestowed by the Eben Demarest Fund, a Pittsburgh Foundation fund. Aldwyth, who makes large murals, assemblage sculptures and more, received the 2015 South Carolina Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts, and her work was exhibited at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in 2009. Aldwyth said she will use the $20,000 grant that comes with the award to hire workshop assistants to help finish a series of three collages.

The following is a joint statement from Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, in response to the Michael Rosfeld trial verdict.

On Saturday, Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, released a joint statement saying, “We have asked the question, ‘Would Antwon Rose be alive today if he had been white?’ We, his family and African American community leaders believe that more than likely he would be.”

Two of the region's most influential philanthropies on Saturday morning joined forces to say that there are "questions that must be urgently addressed, locally and nationally, concerning police behavior, law enforcement recruitment and police officer training," in the wake of Friday's acquittal of former officer Michael Rosfeld in the killing of 17-year-old Antwon Rose II. In a joint statement, Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Maxwell King and Heinz Endowments president Grant Oliphant wrote that a "sense of shock and outrage" at the acquittal "is understandable, and we share it."

The leaders of two major Pittsburgh charities issued a statement expressing "shock and outrage" over the verdict. "Pittsburgh now sadly joins a disturbing and ever-growing catalogue of cases across the United States where law enforcement or security officials have walked free after the killings of young black men under questionable circumstances," wrote Maxwell King, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Foundation, and Grant Oliphant, president of the Heinz Endowments.

A new philanthropic fund launched this week will provide money to groups and individuals that agree to take quick action to combat social injustices. The Social Justice Rapid Response Fund is a collaboration of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, an East Liberty advocacy organization, and the Pittsburgh Foundation. The $100,000 fund was created with $75,000 from the foundation and $25,000 from New Voices.