In The News

The chamber presented $2,500 to Phil Koch with the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County to kick off next year's Day of Giving.

Anyone can submit an idea, from students to budding entrepreneurs to small business owners, and winners will get cash prizes between $10,000 and $300,000 as well as technical and organizational support to execute plans. The contest began taking applications this month with a Nov. 30 final submission deadline. “It's only been two weeks in, and we've already gotten some really interesting, solid ideas,” said Kate Dewey, president of The Forbes Funds, the nonprofit consulting arm of The Pittsburgh Foundation and a founding partner of UpPrize. 

The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments — which have partnered on grant programs for nearly 30 years — now support the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant program twice each year; the program provides funding for local artists, residences and organizations. In the spring, 13 applicants were awarded $202,480 in grants. Germaine Williams, senior program officer for arts and culture at The Pittsburgh Foundation, says the program is important given Pittsburgh’s history with jazz, theater and dance.

 “When the White House pitched us at the end of July on this idea of what if these two universities helped President Obama host a conference to discuss these ideas, we were of course thrilled,” said Rick Siger, CMU’s director for strategic initiatives who is helping pull the conference together. But they could not do it alone, and the universities reached out to local companies, as well a dozen of Pittsburgh’s largest charitable foundations for advice and financial assistance.

Noted civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis will discuss his life experiences during a discussion Saturday at the August Wilson Center on Liberty Avenue, Downtown.

The Caliguiri Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation is giving $460,000, combined with a $275,000 grant from the Simeon M. and Katherine Reed Jones Fund to help launch the chair. A similar amount is expected from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Forbes Funds is expanding its executive-in-residence program, an initiative launched in 2014 that has thus far provided assistance to 100 Allegheny County nonprofits. The organization is increasing the number of retired executives who mentor nonprofit leaders from one to five. By doing so, it hopes to help more organizations and better address specialized issues. 

The Pittsburgh Foundation on Wednesday announced a partnership to create new $2 million endowed chair honoring the late Mayor Richard Caliguiri. The chair position, at the University of Pittsburgh, will focus on finding a cure for amyloidosis, the condition that led to Caliguiri’s death in 1988.

The Caliguiri family’s wishes are finally coming to fruition with the establishment of the Richard S. Caliguiri Endowed Chair in Amyloidosis and Heart Failure at the University of Pittsburgh. The chair will be endowed with $2 million that includes a combination of money from the Pittsburgh Foundation and the University of Pittsburgh. The endowment was scheduled to be announced this morning. The foundation’s contribution includes money from the Richard S. Caliguiri Fund, which the late mayor’s family established at the foundation soon after he died. 

Pittsburgh is the fifth highest recipient of foundation funding in the nation, receiving $157.13 per capita. It makes sense: The city is home to more than 250,000 residents, is in Act 47, the state's distressed cities recovery program, and is home to a number of large foundations. The Heinz Endowments and The Pittsburgh Foundation are just two of the many large foundations based in Pittsburgh that distribute grants in the area.