In The News

The Marcellus Shale Documentary Project and The Allegheny Front both receive financial support from The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.

Gregg Behr, 43, of Ohio Township was recognized for his work with the Remake Learning Council and Remake Learning Network, both comprising leaders in business, philanthropy and education who work to improve learning through technology and other advances. “Over the past decade, Gregg Behr and The Grable Foundation have made Pittsburgh a national model for hands-on learning that combines science, art and technology,” said Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Across the United States, the employment rate of people with disabilities hovers around 30 percent. That's right, not the unemployment rate, but the employment rate. The unemployment rate is around 70 percent. And for youth, it's even more discouraging. Unlike their non-disabled peers, less than 1 in 5 young people with disabilities gain employment experience before high school graduation. In Pennsylvania, that began to change on May 17, when Gov. Tom Wolf signed a critically important bill into law. The legislation, tied to the #IWantToWork campaign, was sponsored by Rep.

For more than nine months, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania operated without a budget. The budget impasse left many health and human services nonprofit organizations financially vulnerable, with some forced to use extreme measures to continue operating, including drastically reducing crucial services for those in need. While Pennsylvania nonprofits employ more than 13.3% of the Commonwealth’s workforce, some nonprofits were forced to lay-off critical staff and reduce staff time during the impasse. 

“The superintendent may well be the most important post in Pittsburgh,” said Maxwell King, CEO and president of The Pittsburgh Foundation. The foundation is one of the school district's largest private funders and established The Pittsburgh Promise, which has committed to raising $250 million to help send the district's graduates to college or trade schools. “Nothing is more consequential than public education. I hope the board can effectively sort this out.”  

The Westmoreland County Federated Library System will use a $10,000 grant from the Pittsburgh-based Eden Hall Foundation to continue working with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit's Math and Science Collaborative in developing “Storytime STEM-Packs,” which integrate science, math and engineering concepts into children's stories, alongside hands-on activities that reinforce those ideas.

Led by Carnegie Mellon University alumna Emily Kennedy, start-up Marinus Analytics is focused on becoming a sustainable company with a huge social impact. In 2015, Marinus Analytics was recognized by UpPrize judges as one of the top three companies in the $1 million social innovation challenge and was awarded $150,000 in investments, plus a $50,000 grant. UpPrize was a unique collaboration between BNY Mellon, the BNY Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania and The Forbes Funds.

“We want to make it very clear that the nonprofit community is not bemoaning these changes,” said Samantha Balbier, executive director of the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership, an advocacy arm of The Forbes Funds representing more than 400 nonprofits in a 10-county region. “We are in support of people's wages being increased; it's just how is this possible without the state Legislature acknowledging the increased cost of doing business?”

The Pittsburgh Promise may be the greatest thing to happen to public schools. If it is successful here it will be copied throughout the country. Some states have already picked it up. More kids can see that if they keep their grades respectable and come to school every day, they now have a chance for an education and a good paying job, regardless of their parent’s income.  

Pennsylvanians sometimes forget there are many other places throughout the state that don’t share Pittsburgh’s pride. Advocate and blogger Sue Kerr has chosen to amplify unheard voices in hopes that those LGBT people living in less-friendly communities don’t feel marginalized. A grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation helped Kerr expand her AMPLIFY project, but she says that additional funding must be sought to print more copies of the zine.