b'10THEFORUMPITTSBURGH FOUNDATIONSTAFF PROFILE ERIKA JOHNSONS PASSION FOR THE ARTS,conservation and social justice ARTISTICin Pittsburgh shines through in everything she does. She joined The Pittsburgh Foundations Program and Policy Department as an SUPPORT administrative coordinator in April. Erika brings a wealth of understanding about our local nonprofit community to the Program staff, says Michael Yonas, director of the Foundations research and special initiatives. Before joining the Foundation, Johnson taught environmental science and local history at Rivers of Steel. More specifically, her teaching took place in a floating classroom on the organizations environmentally friendly riverboat, Explorer. Before her time at Rivers of Steel, she also was executive director of the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse. Erika JohnsonAt the Foundation, Johnson supports Program staff and grantees, at the first-everand assists in grants distribution to the community. Advancing Black ArtsAfter 16 years of working in the nonprofit arts and environment sector, in Pittsburgh BBQ,its exciting to be able to serve the community from the philanthropic where 150 members of the arts communityside. I love being part of a team that is thinking really hard and clearly gathered to eat, drinkabout how we can make Pittsburgh and the world a better place, she says. and revel in the manyMy colleagues inspire me to lean into my commitments to racial equity, contributions of Blackaccessibility, creativity, sustainability and social change. artists to the cultural landscape in and beyond our region.'