If asked, Erin Molchany could write a novel or interpret a balance sheet, but it’s probably in Pittsburgh’s best interest that she keep her current job.
The 31-year-old executive director of the
Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP) and advocate for young people in Pittsburgh, Molchany can be spotted enjoying music in Market Square, running the bases for her softball team or meeting with local politicians.
“PUMP," she says, "is a great place to create social networks and professional networks, retain people in Pittsburgh and learn about some of the issues facing the region.”
Molchany moved here to attend Duquesne University and stayed. A Mt.
Washington resident who is "sick in love with her neighborhood", she considers her adopted city as part of her extended family.
After participating in the training program Emerging Leaders in Public Affairs (ELPA), which traines young people to run for office and manage a political campaign, Molchany ran for City Council, representing Mt. Washington and the West End. “Even though I didn’t win, I felt like it was important that I was in that race," she says.
ELPA is just one of many training programs through the
Coro Center for Civic Leadership that has shaped and continues to mold young leaders in Pittsburgh. “Coro helped me to understand the depth and breadth of a problem," says Molchany. "We saw the result of the training; fellow participants took what they learned and applied it.”
The Pittsburgh Coro Center is part of a nationwide nonprofit organization, preparing individuals for effective and ethical leadership roles in public affairs for nearly ten years.
Where? Everywhere"Our alumni are shaping Pittsburgh through effective leadership across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. We are everywhere," says Coro President and former City Councilman Sala Udin. “You will find our alumni in areas of social responsibility and public trust. They are also recognized for their positive impact in the community.”
One young woman in particular who has been recognized for her positive impact on the community is Fellows Program of Public Affairs alumnus La’Tasha Mayes. The 27-year-old received PUMP’s distinguished 40 Under 40 award in 2005.
But for Mayes, creating change has never been about winning awards. “We are responsible for what we know and once we know it, we can’t
ignore it. It is incumbent upon all of us to use the power to progress,” says Mayes.
As president of the Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh since March 2007, she has led the award-winning group in sponsoring social events, mentoring troubled youth and completing a month-long community service initiative Young Blacks Give Back.
Her full time passion for social justice led her to become the founder and executive director of New Voices Pittsburgh, a grassroots organization for women of color, led by and about women of color, dedicated to elevating the voices of women. New Voices Pittsburgh focuses on reproductive justice by considering all aspects of women’s rights and looking at all levels of reproductive oppression through a social justice lens.
While NVP’s past programming of HIV/AIDS workshops, reproductive rights marches and domestic violence awareness events remain important, Mayes emphasized that their future focus is to develop and support new voices in leadership roles in Pittsburgh, particularly voices of young women of color.
After four years as a growing organization, NVP continues to be recognized and relevant, but Mayes remains humble. “My greatest accomplishment is knowing what my purpose is and knowing exactly why I am here, and being privileged to be able to do it,” Mayes replies. “Some people never find that.”
Andrew Butcher, on the other hand, seems to be in the same boat. As co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit
Growth Through Energy and Community Health (GTECH), Butcher continues to look for new collaborations and ideas as GTECH celebrated its first birthday in April. Originally from Colorado, Butcher completed Coro’s
Fellows Program in Public Affairs in St. Louis before coming to Carnegie Mellon University to obtain a master’s degree.
When the 28-year-old is not training for triathlons or tending his own garden, he may be making your neighborhood a little bit greener.
Within their first year, GTECH was responsible for converting over 12 acres of vacant land into commodities for communities by planting crops such as sunflowers and canola. These crops are not only transforming vacant neighborhood lots and former industrial land into beautiful community gardens and parks, but are also significantly improving soil quality and producing a valuable and earth-friendly product–fuel for biofuels.
And Green Jobs
Another project of GTECH is to combine environmental education with job training to create a Green Job Corp in Pittsburgh. The Student Conservation Association has been collaborating with GTECH on this initiative to provide hands-on experience to students in order to promote development in environmentally-related jobs such as agriculture, horticulture, grounds keeping, environmental management, energy auditing, solar panel installation and maintenance.
While Butcher is extremely proud of GTECH receiving the national Echoing Green Fellowship Award, he is quick to thank the people who helped him to get where he is today. “I’m really excited about what I’m doing. I am indebted to Coro,” he says.
Another shining star of Coro who is excited about what she’s doing is Nicole Molinaro, one of four Coro alumni to win Pittsburgh’s 40 Under 40
recognition in 2007. As executive director of
Communities in Schools in Pittsburgh, Molinaro, 37, is faced with trying to help kids succeed in school despite daunting statistics. Both nationally and locally, one in three kids drop out of school.
Through CIS’s intervention and prevention work, teens and young adults are given a second chance. They are given an individualized classroom experience and the support they need to succeed. In a very profound way, Molinaro says, “We have many kids who would say that we have saved their life. Without CIS, they would be on the streets; they would be dead; they would be at home not doing anything. That really speaks volumes.”
While the Pittsburgh native’s educational background in psychology is her foundation for working with kids in crisis, Coro’s Leaders in Learning program helped to give Molinaro a “deeper sense of the change that can happen in education.” She is still in touch with a lot of the “like-minded people” from the program and has supported other Coro programs by hosting Coro participants at CIS.
While Molinaro works to help kids finish school, she certainly understands the necessity of continual education. “It’s when you stop listening – if you think you know everything, that things start to go downhill.
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Captions:
Erin Molchany; Sala Udin; La'Tasha Mayes; Andrew Butcher; Nicole Molinaro.
Photographs copyright Brian Cohen