By:
Participants of the Community Leadership Forum
In July, Neighborhood Allies conducted a grassroots effort to recruit leaders for their Community Leadership Forum. The forum will not only give residents an opportunity to have their voices heard, but have the power to influence change, gain exposure to community leaders, have access to capital and input on grant allocation, attend professional development workshops, and get experience in community development. The group will also contribute to Neighborhood Allies gaining a more well-rounded understanding of their target neighborhoods by giving them the “awareness, experiences, and knowledge of everyday neighborhood leaders.”
Neighborhood Allies has a vision of a Pittsburgh full of thriving, healthy communities that are livable for all. To that end, they support the people, organizations and partnerships committed to improving the social and physical infrastructures of Pittsburgh’s distressed and transitional communities. They leverage the assets of these communities in a way that catalyzes transformative change for people, places, and systems.
Those chosen from their six focus communities were selected from a long list of nominees and applicants. Their inaugural Community Leadership Forum includes the following distinguished leaders:
Ashley Corts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Black Forge, Hilltop Community
Aurelia Carter-Scott, Family Support Specialist, Larimer Community
Autumn Butler, Executive Director of Wilkinsburg Christian Housing, Borough of Wilkinsburg
Bobby Gilbert, Lincoln-Lemington Community Consensus Group, Lincoln-Lemington Community
Deacon Thomas, Lincoln-Lemington Community Consensus Group, Lincoln-Lemington Community
Denise Rudar, Treasurer of Millvale Borough Development Corporation, Millvale
Donna Jackson, Larimer Consensus Group, Larimer Community
Glenn Grayson, Organizer of One Pittsburgh, Hill District Community
Jmar Bey, President of the South Hilltop Men’s Group and Program Engineer at Pittsburgh Works, Hilltop Community
Jody Guy, Chair of the Wilkinsburg Community Arts and Civic Design Commission, Borough of Wilkinsburg
LaShawna Russ, Beltzhoover Community Coordinator at Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group, Hilltop Community
Mallory Womble, Volunteer of the Teen Council Initiative of Millvale Community Library, Millvale Community
Mandy Wolovich, Attorney and Co-founder of Millvale Community Library, Millvale
Michelle King, Educator at the Environmental Charter School, Borough of Wilkinsburg
Paul Abernathy, Executive Director of FOCUS Pittsburgh, Hill District Community
Tia Torres, Youth Organizer at Hill District Consensus Group, Hill District Community
Tonisha Blackwell, Founder and CEO of Knotzland, Homewood Community
Wahad Ansari, Founder and CEO of Three Generations Barbershop, Homewood Community
Yahru Hood-Wilkerson, CEO of Homewood Purpose and Loungdromat, Homewood Community