Author: Scott Wolovich

Nonprofits & Artists collaborate to launch Creative Advocacy Playbook

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Scattered across Southwestern PA, nonprofits, educational institutions, religious organizations, foundations, activists and more are working toward asserting greater agency over the future of their communities. Since the fall of the steel industry, community leaders have regularly lamented regional division as well as a misaligned direction for the future, making many residents of the region uncertain of how to formulate effective, sustainable change. That’s where creative advocacy comes into play.

On March 30, New Sun Rising and RiverWise announced the release of the Creative Advocacy Playbook, a dynamic in-depth resource that provides adaptive, evolving and practically applicable tools for practitioners of community-focused work. Creative advocates are committed to understanding, engaging and transforming mindsets in ways that produce greater agency and transforming mindsets in ways that produce greater agency and more vibrancy in their community.

The Playbook was introduced during the Ignite Creative Advocacy workshop, where leaders received information about the concepts and strategies of creative advocacy, individual mentoring from artists and advisors on campaign plan development, and participated in a pitch competition where they shared their campaign plans with a panel of judges. Three creative advocacy campaigns were then selected to each receive a $5,000 grant and three months of technical assistance to support the implementation of their plan.

The Creative Advocacy initiative is a partnership between New Sun Rising and RiverWise to help build community capacity and power across Allegheny and Beaver counties. The development of the Playbook was supported by a diverse team of Creative Advisors, along with the research and design support of Trailblaze Creative and Collaborative Craft.

“Although community leaders are increasingly aware that their communities are missing out on opportunities, they often do not know how to make a public case for something different,” said Daniel Rossi-Keen, executive director of RiverWise. “The Creative Advocacy Playbook helps leaders develop effective strategies for communicating what they want to see come alive in their communities.”

This form of advocacy is a public and intentional form of engagement that employs artistic practice to disrupt prevailing narratives and strengthen community movement toward an identified goal. Creatives — artists, writers, artisans, performers, documentarians, and more use their skills to expose, explore, and elevate a specific issue, all while inviting others to think critically, ask questions, and find their own way to be active participants in that movement.

“Creatives help you dig a little bit deeper into seeing things in their natural state, answering questions with people that are going through the issues, seeing their surroundings and their environment, being able to see their actual emotion as opposed to it being scripted, or acted out or reimagined in some way,” said Jay Manning, otherwise known as JM the Poet, who serves as a creative advocacy advisor.

When undertaken intentionally and deployed wisely, creative advocacy can help communities become better informed, inspired, connected, mobilized, and resourced to realize their shared vision for the future. RiverWise used creative advocacy during a 30-day social media campaign in September 2022 to raise awareness of a bridge and trail project, which includes transforming Black’s Run Bridge, an historic bridge that crosses Route 51 between Monaca and West Aliquippa.

Most recently, RiverWise and New Sun Rising together produced “Boom & Bust,” a documentary following a handful of community leaders from Beaver and Allegheny counties who, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, took a trip to Louisiana’s chemical corridor to learn from locals about the impact of petrochemicals. The film poses questions about the future health and vibrancy of Beaver County in the wake of Shell opening its ethane cracker plant in Potter Township. Beyond Rust, an artists’ response to industrial development in Beaver County, will take place on April 21st from 7-9PM and kick off an ongoing campaign.

Creative advocacy is meant to engage a wider group of people in dialogue and provide opportunities for them to contribute to the future that they envision. Using creative and innovative techniques can equip residents to be active participants in moving their region forward. New Sun Rising helped communities advocate for a just use of vacant property through the Ground Truthing project led by Grounded Strategies. The alternative future expressed in the campaign video was envisioned by Homewood residents, and produced by artists Marlon Gist and Christopher Padgett, owner of Human City Creative.

“If we are to overcome the economic, social, and environmental issues of our time, we must find new ways to inspire more people to take action,” said Scott Wolovich, executive director of New Sun Rising. “Our hope is that people will use the resources in this playbook to bring community leaders and creatives together and mobilize people towards shared goals.”

The Creative Advocacy Playbook combines theory and practice to help community organizations de-risk their commitment to and investment in advocacy efforts. It explains the who, what, when, where, why, and how of building a campaign. The playbook includes 17 worksheets that can be adapted, used individually, or together as part of a sophisticated campaign to guide readers through the creative advocacy process.

Read + Download the Playbook

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New Sun Rising supports the people building vibrant communities through culture, sustainability, and opportunity. They provide capacity building, accessible funding, data, and creative advocacy to help nonprofits, social enterprises, and collaboratives lead and benefit from the future they envision.

RiverWise is a nonprofit organization working to organize community power and voice so that residents of Beaver County can create the kinds of communities in which they wish to live,

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Ashley Johnson hired as Office Administrator at New Sun Rising

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

New Sun Rising is happy to announce that Ashley Johnson has been hired as Office Administrator for the organization.

As Office Administrator, Ashley is involved in the areas of operations, finance, administration, and capacity building, and is able to implement new methods and processes to help facilitate the back-end office practices more efficiently. 

Ashley said the best part of her job is “connecting with amazing program leaders who are dedicated to bringing about much needed local change.”

“I look forward to providing exceptional, timely support to the programs and leaders connected to NSR. I am excited to hone my organization, coordination and leadership skill sets in the nonprofit sector,” Ashley said. “My hope is to be directly connected to the growth and elevation of the purpose and mission of NSR.

Executive Director Scott Wolovich said Ashley’s cross sector experience brings new perspectives and skillsets which are critical to the adaptive approach that a core value at NSR. 

“Having worked in administrative roles with small creative entrepreneurs, an academic institution, and a large multinational corporation allows Ashley to bring fresh insights as we strive to deliver operational and relationship management excellence,” Wolovich said.

When speaking to Ashley’s references, Wolovich said it was “obvious that she is dedicated to her craft and makes those around her better employees and people,” and is a sentiment that Ashley echoed herself.

“I care about people and I take pride in the fact that the nature of my job positively impacts the lives of others,” Ashley said.

Public Art and Communities Program Releases Call for Organizations

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Office of Public Art, Neighborhood Allies, and the Borough of Millvale launch new program connecting artists and communities

Release Date: August 13, 2020

Pittsburgh, PA – Office of Public Art and Neighborhood Allies, in collaboration with the Borough of Millvale, are seeking four partnering organizations who are addressing public health needs to participate in a program to collaboratively develop temporary works of public art with artists.

The Public Art and Communities program (PAC) will support the development of creative place-based strategies, as well as four temporary artworks in Pittsburgh communities. The projects will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and address its intersection with other public health issues. PAC will engage artists to collaborate with communities to address their needs through public art and creative placemaking practices. The target geography for the program includes: Hilltop (including Allentown, Beltzhoover, Knoxville, and Mount Oliver); Hill District; Wilkinsburg; Homewood; Larimer; Lincoln-Lemington; and the Triboro Ecodistrict (Etna, Millvale, and Sharpsburg). At least one of the selected organizations will serve the communities of the Triboro Ecodistrict; the other three organizations will serve one or more of the communities in the target geography.

For more information and to submit an online application please visit https://pittsburghartscouncil.submittable.com/submit. An online information session will be held on Thursday, September 3, 2020 from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom. Registration for the information session can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/PAC-Info-1.  The deadline for Organizational Applications is Monday, September 21, 2020 at 11:59 PM. A separate call for artist applications will be released at a later date.

“Our most vulnerable populations are already subject to a myriad of public health risks. By mobilizing artists to collaborate with these communities, we can enhance connection, coping, and wellbeing and create new tools and methods for addressing the current challenges. We can strengthen our communities’ responses and build their resilience.” reads the call for organizations.

Qualified organizations are community-based organizations (CBOs) or other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address one or more public health needs, including, but not limited to: mental health; racism; food insecurity; housing instability; environmental injustice; and social isolation and exclusion, and are serving communities in the target geography. Organizations are not required to have an art program or experience working with artists and are not required to be located in the target geographic area, but must have a demonstrated track record of working within the neighborhood.

“Before COVID-19, the communities we work in were already experiencing high levels of concentrated poverty, racial segregation and separation from economic opportunity, and now the crisis has only helped to exacerbate these very serious situations. From the “Pittsburgh’s Inequality Across Gender and Race” report and many other accounts, we know that Pittsburgh is less livable for African-Americans compared to other groups based on a number of quality of life and economic indicators such as: high levels of maternal mortality, low labor force participation, disproportionately high poverty rates, low average income and others” said Chelsea Contino, Communications and Outreach Program Coordinator at Neighborhood Allies. “As an organization, we know that public art and creative placemaking projects can be a successful strategy to achieve community goals and objectives, including public health objectives, and we are eager to support collaborative efforts of organizations with artists in our communities to obtain equitable and healthy neighborhoods.”

After the organizations are selected, they will serve on a panel to choose the artist with whom they will collaborate. Organizations will work with their selected artist to assist in the development of a proposal for a work of temporary public art. Each collaboration will result in a temporary public artwork with an expected lifespan of 1 – 2 years. Each organization will receive an honorarium of $10,000 to participate in the program to support staff time for the program, including outreach and engagement efforts. Artwork budgets will be $35,000, which includes the artist fee. The Call for Artists will be released later this year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis that has overturned lives around the world. We have seen that arts and culture projects can play a powerful role in shaping our response and addressing the vast needs that have been exposed.” said Sallyann Kluz, Director of the Office of Public Art.  “The Public Art and Communities program, which builds on the Temporary Public Art and Placemaking program that we piloted with Neighborhood Allies in 2016, will provide training for artists and communities to work together, build collaboration in support of community needs, and create partnerships for the future.”

Public Art and Communities is a collaboration between the Office of Public Art, Neighborhood Allies, the Borough of Millvale, Millvale Community Library, and the Triboro Ecodistrict. The program is funded through the generous support of The Heinz Endowments, the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, and the Our Town program of the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

For more information and to submit an online application, please visit https://pittsburghartscouncil.submittable.com/submit.

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About the Office of Public Art

The Office of Public Art (OPA) envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change. OPA builds regional capacity for this work through technical assistance, public programming, artist resources, and civically engaged public art projects.  Located at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, OPA serves the thirteen county region of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Learn more at publicartpittsburgh.org.

About Neighborhood Allies

Neighborhood Allies’ mission is to support the people, organizations and partnerships committed to creating and maintaining thriving neighborhoods. They strive to support this mission by creating community partnerships, connecting distressed and transitioning communities with valued/ vetted resources, and communicating and celebrating progress and success. For more information, visit: neighborhoodallies.org.

About the Millvale Community Library

Established in 2007 and opening in 2013 after years of resident volunteer efforts, the Millvale Community Library is more than a library – it is an agent for positive change. In 2012, the Millvale Community Library hosted and helped create the Millvale Ecodistrict community education and engagement program to build capacity and leadership. Today over 20,000 annual visitors of all ages enjoy free resources, literacy, arts, and making programs. http://www.millvalelibrary.org/

About the Borough of Millvale

Established in 1868, the Borough of Millvale is a municipality immediately adjacent to Pittsburgh and located on the Allegheny River. The Borough works closely with individuals and organizations to advance projects and ideas for the benefit of its community members, and regularly partners with neighboring communities on inter-municipal planning and development initiatives. In 2013, the Borough of Millvale launched the Millvale Ecodistrict Pivot Plan, a community revitalization strategy that includes the development of regenerative infrastructure, education, and art to create and enhance sustainable planning and development solutions. https://www.millvalepa.com/

About the Triboro Ecodistrict

The Triboro Ecodistrict promotes coordinated sustainable community development throughout the Boroughs of Millvale, Etna and Sharpsburg. With over 10,000 residents combined, the Triboro builds on a strong collaborative history to promote equitable, sustainable community development through the shared lenses of: Equity, Food, Water, Energy, Air Quality, and Mobility. The Triboro Ecodistrict is a collaborative project of New Sun Rising, Etna Economic Development Corporation, Etna Community Organization (ECO), and Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization. https://www.newsunrising.org/project/triboro-ecodistrict/

New Sun Rising to support newly launched Arts | Equity | Reimagined Fund

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

The Covid-19 Arts Working Group (CAWG), a collaboration of 15 foundations and a private donor in the Pittsburgh metro area, announces the Arts I Equity I Reimagined Fund, in response to the unprecedented and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region’s arts and cultural sector. The fund is intended to foster collective action and identify creative solutions to operating challenges as nonprofit arts organizations navigate these uncertain times. While the fund is open to all arts and cultural organizations, in recognition of long-standing disparities in funding, it will prioritize small to medium-sized arts organizations and those that serve or are led by historically marginalized communities in southwestern Pennsylvania, whether they be urban or rural in location. 

New Sun Rising is pleased to support the design and development of the program, as well as implement the Collective Action for Reimagining grant program of the fund.

Details about the Arts I Equity I Reimagined Fund, including eligibility requirements, deadlines, FAQs, the application process and guiding principles can be found at www.artsreimagined.org or by calling (412) 219-6584‬. More information can also be found on the NSR website.

Vibrancy Under Siege in COVID-19 America

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Photo detail at Randyland

What a week.
In a matter of days, the rapid spread and quarantine response to cornonavirus disrupted our physical and mental routines like nothing we have seen since 9/11. The economic fallout has been swift, especially for employees, 1099 gig economy workers, and small business owners. As many as 1 million people filed for their first week of unemployment benefits this week. Businesses and their employees who cannot go virtual, like healthcare, construction, food, transportation, and hospitality, face a tough decision between paycheck and potential exposure. Many of them have now been deemed non-essential and forced to shut down.

What’s needed.
In the short term, resources should prioritize the critical human service and economic needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. This crisis has shed further light on the cruel nature of a system that promotes centralized wealth but keeps people in poverty, the health and well being of older adults and youth in the shadows, and our small businesses disadvantaged. Help us to better understand urgent needs in your community and advocate for the just use of recovery resources by completing this brief COVID-19 Crisis Mitigation Needs Assessment.

Some of you have grant funds, skills, and resources which can be mobilized immediately. Leaders should consider collaborating with other organizations, reallocating funds, and shifting short-term programmatic strategies to help mitigate negative impacts on those they serve. Many grant makers are supporting the flexible use of funds. Locally and Nationally, a growing number of foundations are pledging no ‘business as usual’. This unexpected move to a virtual environment has also left many nonprofits and small businesses scrambling to adapt. Help us to best support you via this Technical Needs Assessment.

New Sun Rising and our Board of Directors have always valued innovation and the associated risks, the power of integrated solutions, and continuous adaptive learning into the delivery of our capacity building and accessible funding efforts. In this spirit, NSR is announcing two new rapid response programs:

  1. Fiscal Sponsorship – Critical Projects allows for accelerated due diligence, approval, and onboarding processes for charitable initiatives that directly support human services, health and basic needs, or access to life sustaining funds. Applicants are encouraged to apply online in order to determine eligibility.
  2. Crisis Mitigation Relief Fund will provide $1,000 to $2,500 and technical support for small businesses and nonprofits who demonstrate critical economic needs as a result of unemployment or underemployment during the COVID-19 crisis. Follow NSR social media and website for program eligibility and application details as they become available. Make a contribution to this fund and help us to support the urgent needs of more people. Special thanks to the Hillman Foundation for your early support.

Where we’re going.
Government leaders are deploying a war time approach to mobilize manufacturing and economic stimulus that will total billions of dollars. One reality of war is this significant flow of financial resources, both in the short term mitigation phase but also during the longer term recovery. While we agree that immediate concerns are top priority, we encourage citizens, businesses, nonprofits, and elected leaders to consider your role in advocacy and use your power to guide accountability towards a just and human centered crisis response. As billions or more are about to pour into our communities, we must signal to systemic gatekeepers that we are willing, able, and necessary to lead an effective and equitable recovery.

Lastly, please know that New Sun Rising and our partners are here to listen and to consider any collaborative approaches to promote and protect community vibrancy. We remain committed to taking action through triple bottom line community development (culture, sustainability, and opportunity). Our core values of inclusion, adaptation, and place-based solutions will continue to guide our work. On behalf of the NSR team, we would also like to extend our gratitude to the front line healthcare, social service, and other workers who are taking on personal risk while providing essential support.

Take care of yourself and family. Check on your friends and neighbors. Be well.

Scott Wolovich, Executive Director

SVP Pittsburgh Announces Nonprofits for Special Alumni Fall Pitch Event

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Pittsburgh, PA: Today SVP Full Circle, Pittsburgh’s impact accelerator for nonprofits, announced the five Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organizations that were selected for their Fall pitch event on December 18, 2019 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at The Alloy Studios (5530 Penn Ave).

RSVP for the SVP Full Circle Alumni Pitch

The nonprofits selected for this special alumni edition include: 

  • Allegheny Youth Development has a mission is to educate, equip and empower our inner-city youth to reach their God-given intellectual, social, physical and spiritual potential. (2015 SVP alumni)
  • Assemble envisions diverse neighborhoods of empowered people who create, connect, learn, and transform together. Assemble builds confidence through making by uniting communities of artists, technologists, makers, and learners. (2017 SVP alumni)
  • Hope Haven Farm rescues abused and neglected farm animals and educate the public on animal welfare. (2017 SVP alumni)
  • Never Fear Being Different (NFBD) NFBD’s mission is leverage the shift in modern media to amplify social impact in the digital. (2017 SVP alumni)
  • Providence Connections strengthens families and enriches lives through comprehensive education and developmental opportunities for parents and children. (2018 SVP alumni)

Leigh Solomon Pugliano, SVP Pittsburgh’s Full Circle Nonprofit Accelerator Manager shares that, “The Alumni Pitch Event is an opportunity for us to provide a platform for nonprofit leaders to share their stories, advocate for their mission, and gain the additional resources needed to do their best work.”

Attendees will learn about the impact that these innovative nonprofits are having on their communities and opportunities to support their work. The SVP Pittsburgh Board of Directors will share a brief update on the strategic direction of the organization. There will also be plenty of time to network with SVP Partners, who are private sector professionals that contribute their skills, expertise, networks and finances to enhance nonprofit impact.

About SVP Pittsburgh: Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh is a growing community of engaged philanthropists who contribute their expertise, skills, networks and finances to grow the impact of nonprofits and tackle our community’s greatest challenges. SVP Pittsburgh is committed to prioritize Inclusion, Collaboration, and Impact in all of their work.

Data systems + nonprofits: A new space for innovation

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Guest blog post from Bhavini Patel CEO/Co-founder beamdata

Data systems in the nonprofit sector are underdeveloped and fragmented, which has long-standing
implications for community-based decision making.

Typically, nonprofit practitioners collect and use data for various purposes with many organizational
leaders claiming there is too much data and too little actionable information. It is true that many
practitioners are overwhelmed by large amounts of data, which can be frustrating to analyse. As a
result, data often results in little problem-solving value or strategic insight. This perpetuates a culture
that enables short-term performance and inhibits long-term strategizing or growth. The economic
development and social good delivered by nonprofits necessitates more sophisticated analysis of
meaningful data trends.

Nonprofits represent 15 percent of the Pennsylvania workforce and generate $132 billion in annual
revenues. More specifically, Allegheny County alone is home to over 2,000 nonprofits generating
$4.5 billion in annual revenues and sustaining over 100,000 jobs. Through direct social services and
assistance to people, nonprofits are a critical pillar of building sustainable communities and
catalyzing economic revitalization. Despite the large density and socioeconomic impact of nonprofits
in Allegheny County, there is little use of data that guides decision making.

Data-driven decisions are necessary to ensure an impact driven mission reaches the people and
communities it intends to serve. More importantly, data is essential to identifying organizational
strengths that catalyze equitable development, while also pinpointing flaws. For example, long-term
measures of socioeconomic indicators can lend predictive power to issues such as gentrification.
Uneven trends of urban development can fuel uneven patterns of economic opportunity. Often the
result is low-income families are relegated to neighborhoods impacted by limited access to
affordable housing, fair-paying jobs, and quality schools. Community-level data can catalyze
innovations such as forecasting tools that predict socioeconomic trends thereby allowing
interventions to be made early-on. Local data trends can add value by helping organizations better
manage affordable housing stocks, allocate limited resources, and plan equitable development.

A closer look at nonprofit data systems reveals a challenging reality. More often nonprofit
practitioners admit to the importance of data but do not understand how to collect good data or make
it useful for their impact-driven cause. Large amounts of data exist, but transforming data into data
with problem-solving value is complex and resource intensive. This causes frustration and leads
many practitioners to rely on assumption-based programming rather than data-driven decisions.
In order to break down barriers to higher standards of data practice, we need to assess three core
organizational-level data concepts.

Understand the purpose of data

Knowing what you want to do with data and understanding the purpose it serves is a critical data
collection requirement. However, big data is often not collected with mission or people in mind,
which presents immense challenges in understanding their problems and extracting problem-solving
value. Current models of data collection prioritize gathering large amounts of unstructured data, but
more data doesn’t necessarily mean better data. Big data can’t be explained or used without
understanding the human experiences, environments and emotions in which it arises. When we
activate data collection with an impact mission, we can make sense of human problems and develop
better strategies, services, and policies.

Adopt standard methods of data collection

Adopting standard data collection practices requires understanding what practices do and do not
work for your organizational needs. Within a nonprofits data ecosystem there can be significant
amounts of different data types scattered across spreadsheets, databases, survey tools, and internal
systems. Some nonprofits still rely on collecting data using paper surveys and interviews. Lack of
data standardization and centralization makes it difficult to understand the macro and micro level
problems that should inform the design of data analysis tools. As a result, the tools created don’t
capture answers to important questions or allow nonprofits to effectively harness the utility of data.

Collect representative and unbiased data

In order to nurture inclusive community-based decisions, it is critical to limit bias in data collection
and consider the local realities of people such as language access and ethnic diversity. Data is often
collected without regard for local communities and aggregated to describe complex human
experiences. This means certain subpopulations may not be represented. Typically there are
quantitative data describing majority populations, while data about minority groups are relegated to
qualitative sources. Recognizing disparities in data representation helps us understand indicators
associated with demographics, poverty, housing, language accessibility, and more. Prioritizing
comprehensive data collection is critical for identifying patterns between populations and specific
geographies, which can impact programming and outreach strategies.

The first step to building an ecosystem of data-driven decision making requires ensuring
practitioners have the knowledge to adopt sophisticated standards of data collection and analysis.
This means working towards an organizational culture that values data and examining why data is
important to your social impact growth. This also means including data collection and analysis in
general operating budgets thereby encouraging philanthropy to fund the development of data
systems. The gradual implementation of data practices can break down silos between organizations,
allow for new standards of impact measurement, and optimize social impact delivery.

 

Bhavini Patel
CEO/Co-founder beamdata
For more information:
@bhavinip_
@beamdata

SVP Full Circle Spring Cohort kicks off

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Social Venture Partners (SVP) Pittsburgh held its Spring 2019 Full Circle Cohort kickoff event on Thursday, April 4 at Ascender in East Liberty. This event marked the beginning of the rigorous 14-week impact accelerator program that includes consulting, workshops, seminars, networking and a pitch event to create an action-oriented learning experience that will strengthen the five participating nonprofits impact and financial stability.

Participating nonprofits include: Greater Valley Community Services, Unity Through Creativity, Associated Artists Pittsburgh, Legacy Arts Project, and Coraopolis Community Development Foundation.

Each nonprofit is paired with a team of SVP partners to provide hands-on coaching and support through advanced social capital, new ideas, knowledge capital, skills-based human capital and private sector financial capital.

Nonprofits were selected through an application process that chose innovative and impact driven organizations focused on outcomes and open to new collaborative learning skills. Nonprofits that successfully complete the program also receive a $3,000 unrestricted award.

The Full Circle curriculum consists of three stages, each of which are further broken down into three parts providing support through preparation, workshops, and implementation review. Details of the Program Design can be found here.

“SVP Pittsburgh is really excited to welcome this next cohort for the Full Circle Impact Accelerator Program. We have a unique opportunity through this program to connect nonprofit organizations with private sector philanthropists who want to use their expertise and access to capital to support their growth towards increased impact and financial sustainability. ” -Leigh Solomon Pugliano, Full Circle Manager – SVP Pittsburgh.  

If you’re interested in learning more about SVP Pittsburgh or becoming a partner, contact Full Circle Manager, Leigh Solomon Pugliano. Join us for the Full Circle Happy Hour on May 23rd and Final Pitch Event on June 26th. For the Spring 2019 Cohort Schedule, click here.

Contact:

Leigh Solomon Pugliano, Full Circle Manager, SVP Pittsburgh | Director of Opportunity, New Sun Rising

leigh@svppittsburgh.org

412.573.1870

EcoDistricts Incubator brings together regional sustainability stakeholders

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

Author: Alyse Horn-Pyatt

The EcoDistricts Incubator is a program that was created by the national EcoDistricts organization in Oregon. Every year since the incubator began it has been held in Portland, but for the first time this year it will be held in Pittsburgh at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub.

The three-day intensive workshop brings together teams of people throughout the country and internationally to begin developing an ecodistrict plan for their neighborhoods and build on their existing plans. Ecodistricts implement sustainable development that are defined by communities and follow the EcoDistricts Protocol.

Zaheen Hussain, Director of Sustainability at New Sun Rising, said there are a number of different reasons for the incubator to be moved to Pittsburgh, one being that the area is the most active cluster in the country surrounding ecodistrict planning.

“It’s exciting to see something like this happening here and opening up the opportunity for teams to be able to attend that otherwise might not be able to afford the time, money, and capacity to take a week and go to Portland,” Hussain said.

In the past there have been six to 11 participating teams from as far as New Zealand and South Africa; this year will include: Beaver County, Beltzhoover, Etna, Hill District, Larimer, MetroHealth in Cleveland, Millvale, Oakland, Quaker Valley Council of Governments, Sharpsburg, Uptown, the Slavic Village in Cleveland, and Wilkinsburg.

Although Larimer was the first community in the region to start talking about ecodistricts, this will also be its first incubator. Uptown attended the EcoDistrict Incubator in 2014 and Millvale went in 2016, while Homewood participated in 2017. Hussain said Millvale and the New Sun Rising team were able to attend the incubator three years ago through a Neighborhood Allies grant with the stipulation that “‘If we fund you, how are you going to make sure what you learn can be shared with the Pittsburgh community?'”

In November 2016, seven months after Millvale attended the EcoDistrict Incubator, Hussain and Brian Wolovich hosted a mini-incubator that condensed the three-day program into one Saturday workshop. Two of the teams that attended from Sharpsburg and Etna had shown a lot of excitement and that sparked the idea for the Triboro Ecodistrict, an initiative of New Sun Rising which Wolovich is the director.

“Millvale had the opportunity to go to Portland [for the incubator], and we felt that Etna and Sharpsburg deserved that opportunity but we didn’t have the funding so we had to think about bringing [the incubator] here,” Hussain said.

Because EcoDistricts works with teams from all over the world, they focus on global facilitation of the protocols, but the upcoming incubator has been specialized for the region and will allow facilitators to dig into more localized issues.

The master facilitator for the event is Christine Mondor of evolveEA who originally helped the community of Millvale develop their Millvale Ecodistrict Pivot Plan in 2012 and eventually Pivot 2.0 in 2016. Hussain said during this incubator New Sun Rising and community stakeholders will begin developing its 3.0 plan while other teams will be focusing on 2.0 or constructing the first phases of their ecodistrict plan.

“What we and EcoDistricts are trying to do for the first time is be more intentional around who the facilitators are and setting up meetings in advance so that teams can relay what their needs are,” Hussain said.

The incubator will run from April 25-27, and on that Saturday the Triboro Ecodistrict communities will gather to discuss what has and has not been working for them thus far. Wolovich said he is keen on getting feedback from facilitators and to hear from others on how the Triboro Ecodistrict can move forward.

Daniel Rossi-Keen, Executive Director of RiverWise in Beaver County, is attending the incubator and said he is excited to be part of the conversation and think about sustainable community development “and learning from a mix of folks with similar problems.”

“There should be a wide range of conversations and the more we are able to expose communities to creative solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems, the more success we have moving forward,” Rossi-Keen said.

EvolveEA, New Sun Rising, and EcoDistricts have been working closely to plan this years incubator. Hussain said there will be 100 people or so packed into the Millvale Food + Energy Hub over the three-days and that “it’s going to be cozy, but good.”

“Moving this [from Portland] to the Millvale Food + Energy Hub speaks for itself about the level of commitment that we’ve been putting in over the years,” Wolovich said. “It’s recognition of those efforts.”

The annual EcoDistricts Summit will also be held in Pittsburgh this year on November 4-5.

For more information on ecodistricts, click here.

Cultural empathy creates opportunity for entrepreneurs

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

As an entrepreneur herself, Leigh Solomon Pugliano understands on a personal level the amount of commitment and sacrifices that individuals put into starting their business–especially women.

“I started my business pregnant with my third daughter,” Pugliano said. “I also saw that it was the best thing for my family, too, as scary as that sounds. And I was scared every day.”

Eight years ago, Pugliano founded Straightforward Consulting Co. that specializes in strategizing business operations and improving productivity. Four years ago, Pugliano started Barrels to Beethoven, which she founded to teach and preserve the history of the steel pan, an instrument she has been playing for much of her life. Pugliano’s father is a steel pan builder and tuner, and when he emigrated with his family from Guyana to the United States in 1984 he started the Solomon Steelpan Company, the first of its kind the nation.

“I realized there was a need to preserve the history and culture of the people that have built the instrument, because that story was being lost,” Pugliano said. “Barrels to Beethoven wants to preserve the instrument any way we can: education, performance, technique, training, all of those elements.”

As the Director of Opportunity at New Sun Rising, Pugliano’s experiences give her an apt entrepreneurial perspective on how to build a business from nothing. But there is another attribute that she possesses, putting her in a different league when it comes to mentorship and business development.

“She has this empathetic quality to understand what we are going through,” said Staycee Pearl, co-executive director of PearlArts Studios. “She has a lot of different experiences and her range of knowledge about nonprofits and business is vast, and her [frame of reference] is what is most helpful to us.”

One of the personality traits that Pearl appreciates the most about Pugliano is her ability to walk into a room with the cognizance that she has and not treat others as if she is superior. Pearl described Pugliano as “respectful,” “encouraging,” and “always thinking of ways she can support us.”

Pearl was a participant in the first iteration of the NSR GROW Residency, a program for established business owners that was created and led by Pugliano. The bulk of the program consisted of weekly individualized consulting sessions with Pugliano accompanied by three group meetings over the course of six months. There were a total of six business owners who participated in the program, including Kelauni Cook, founder of Black Tech Nation.

Cook said when she first met Pugliano through the Grow program there was an immediate connection, and since then her respect for Pugliano has only grown.

“Speaking first from a woman’s perspective, I admire Leigh’s ability to command attention without having to say much. As a woman, you feel like you have to take space when you’re in a room full of men and be aggressive,” Cook said. “[Leigh] is so graceful and she doesn’t do that, she just comes in and observes and has a powerful presence.”

“From a Black woman’s perspective, just having her as a mentor, having someone not much older than me that also understands the nuance of being Black and female and how that works together in the business and startup sector in Pittsburgh—she is someone I can look up to that looks like me.”

Pugliano said her number one passion is supporting entrepreneurs, and one of the beneficial traits to her work with New Sun Rising is that she not only brings diversity, “but build[s] diversity because I am welcoming and inclusive.”

Pugliano also oversees the growth New Sun Rising’s Vibrant Communities Framework, which was created to help communities develop a strategic roadmap and get to action around the priorities they want to set for themselves.

“It could be around entrepreneurship, it could be around education, but this framework will help guide them on that path and then we can help them with strategy or help with implementing the things that they need to do,” Pugliano said.

For those who might feel not ready to take the jump into starting or progressing their business, Pugliano said that New Sun Rising is a good place to start, even if individuals just have an idea.

“People are at different places and stages with their business and within themselves,” Pugliano said. “We understand that and can help guide people through that process.”

Music festivals strengthen cultural appreciation and community connections

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

The celebration of culture manifests in different ways, and on May 11 two Pittsburgh events will share the day to showcase local and international cultures through music and food: Pittonkatonk Mayday Brass BBQ & Potluck and the Millvale Music Festival.

While each has its own distinctive experience, these two events were created to be a platform for people to come together, highlight, and honor their communities.

Pittonkatonk

Officially dubbed Pittonkatonk in 2014, the festival was started to answer the call of HONK! in Cambridge, Mass. That three-day festival brings together brass bands from all over the country to celebrate community, music, and activism. Not only did it inspire Pete Spynda to start a Pittsburgh HONK! festival (Pittsburgh+HONK=Pittonkatonk), but there are also HONK! festivals in Seattle, Detroit, Austin, and over seas in Australia and Brazil.

“We gave ours a different spin and made it into a potluck,” Spynda said. “We also celebrate the justice organizations and activism for a day of celebration [instead of three].”

Unofficially, Pittonkatonk began as a party with What Cheer Brigade in a garage in Highland Park with around 100 people. As attendance rose each year and the event grew in popularity, the decision was made to move to the Vietnam Veteran’s Pavilion in Schenley Park. Last year there were over 5,000 people in attendance.

“I think Pittonkatonk really conveys true community spirit,” Spynda said.

For the potluck, hundreds of people bring a dish to share. The recipes usually tell an origin story of their own as participants are bringing their famous potato salad or their grandmother’s pierogi recipe, which in turn has “people from different backgrounds breaking bread together and listening to music from all over the world,” Spynda said.

This year out of the 16 ensembles, four are international and coming into Pittsburgh from Peru, Macedonia, Canada, and Cuba. Spynda said he is able to help pay for artists’ flights through grants, which is one of the elements New Sun Rising has been able to assist with since connecting with Pittonkatonk in 2014.

“They’ve really helped me and Pittonkatonk as an organization evolve in the sense of establishing a concrete foundation for what we are doing,” Spynda said.

The resource tent is one initiative that Pittonkatonk and NSR are collaborating on this year to represent and share information on over a dozen social justice organizations. And new to the event is the Artivist Greenhouse where Pittonkatonk will commission three Pittsburgh artists to write new songs in collaboration with social justice organizers. This project was created to encourage artists to form deep working relationships with environmental and social justice organizations that work to clean our air and water, support immigrants, and prevent displacement.

On May 10, the night before Pittonkatonk, there is a Youth Showcase at Salem’s Event Center from 6-8 p.m. presented by Remake Learning and the Grable Foundation. Ben Barson, member of Afro Yaqui Music Collective, has participated in Pittonkatonk for several years and works closely with the teens in the organizations education program to prepare for the performances. The teens participate with the performers during Pittonkatonk, but this is the first time there is an event specifically for youth involved in the event.

“It’s a beautiful opportunity for them to learn how to improvise, take risks, and perform in front out thousands of people,” Barson said.

Spynda said that for the past several years, City Council has declared the date the festival is held on as “Pittonkatonk Day,” but he hopes in the future the event could be presented by the City of Pittsburgh as well.

Millvale Music Festival

It’s around this time, after the band submissions have closed for Millvale Music Festival, that mayhem ensues, said Co-Founder Paul Bossung, Jr.

“We’ll book over 200 acts for this year, but over 460 have applied,” Bossung said.

The festival, now entering its third year, will have 22 stages set up throughout Millvale and 15 different businesses and organizations are involved with the event in some way.

The borough’s population almost doubles in size during the festival, which is a great opportunity for Millvale to show the opportunities is has to offer for potential future residents or small businesses. Last year, the festival brought over 5,000 visitors through Millvale.

“We have great breweries and businesses like Steel City Salt Company,” Bossung said. “There is so much opportunity here and you start to see the younger crowd appreciate that while their walking around [the festival].”

In 2018, Bossung said Sedgwick Street was strewn with artists who were performing live to accompany the bands playing. He hopes to continue that setup this year, and although he wasn’t able to confirm the details yet, Bossung hinted at the potential for a larger and reoccurring community art project.

The festival has also made some technological strides this year and will have televisions in each venue so event attendees can get live updates on the bands and shuttle schedules.

Bossung said what he believes makes this event unique is the amount of live performances happening within a five to ten minute walk, and also the places around Millvale where bands will be performing including the Millvale Food + Energy Hub at the former Moose lodge.

“Visitors get the chance to wander around town all day and to see all of the places that are unique and special to Millvale,” Bossung said.

RiverWise receives $160,000 for Beaver County initiative

Posted on by Scott Wolovich

BEAVER — RiverWise, a newly formed nonprofit project of the Beaver County Partnership for Community and Economic Growth, recently received a $160,000 grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to fund a year-long pilot program aimed at using Beaver County’s rivers and their surrounding communities as wisely as possible.

“RiverWise is as creative a partnership as we’ve seen in many years in Beaver County,” said Jack Manning, Executive Director for the Beaver County Partnership for Community and Economic Growth. “It’s a carefully planned effort to align the structure of the organization with the needs of our region. The focus on our rivers is important and long overdue, and the Beaver County Partnership is pleased to be supporting this work and its efforts at developing a regional identity with our rivers at the center.”

Daniel Rossi-Keen, Executive Director of RiverWise, agrees with Manning. “The rivers of Beaver County represent one of our greatest and most enduring resources as a region,” he said. “Both symbolically and in actuality, our rivers span long-standing divides, draw us together and call for us to think regionally about our identity and our future. Historically, we have underappreciated the value of our rivers, and RiverWise seeks to begin reversing that trend.”

At the heart of RiverWise’s work is an ongoing effort to organize stakeholders to dream, learn and collaborate through action on behalf of Beaver County’s rivers and the communities through which they flow. As a way of guiding this process, RiverWise is leaning heavily on a new tool called “ecodistrict thinking.” For several months now, ecodistricts have been forming in Beaver Falls, Monaca and Aliquippa. This process will grow and deepen as the year progresses. Ecodistrict thinking involves careful assessment and planning about a community’s water, energy, transportation, air and food systems. It seeks to develop healthy systems that promote equity and participation for all members of a community.

Assisting RiverWise is New Sun Rising, a Millvale-based community economic development non-profit. According to Brian Wolovich, director of Triboro Ecodistrict and New Sun Rising’s consulting partner for RiverWise, “Ecodistricts represent a wholistic way of organizing that sees a community as an interconnected and multifaceted set of systems. Rather than only focusing on the physical infrastructure of a community, ecodistrict thinking seeks a broader approach to community development. Citizens of Millvale, Sharpsburg and Etna have used this method of organizing with considerable success in the Triboro Ecodistrict, and we are excited to see residents of Beaver County begin to engage with this kind of thinking.”

Scott Wolovich, Executive Director of New Sun Rising, thinks RiverWise is poised to lead some very exciting work with the people of Beaver County in the coming months and years. “We know that communities are complex ecosystems, and we have witnessed how a backbone organization like RiverWise can help stakeholders create a unified vision, make creative connections, and get to action. RiverWise is quickly becoming a leader in innovative thinking about developing clusters of Vibrant Communities in Southwestern PA. As the future of Beaver County becomes a bigger part of our regional story, New Sun Rising is excited to be partnering with them in this important work.”

In addition to forming ecodistrict communities in Beaver Falls, Monaca and Aliquippa, RiverWise is also working closely with Cathy McCollom, principal at McCollom Development Strategies, to promote projects and seek funding to build physical infrastructure along the
region’s rivers.

Funding for RiverWise was made possible through a creative partnership with the Beaver County Regional Council of Governments, who acts as a fiscal sponsor for RiverWise’s projects and whose recent strategic plan called for municipal activity aimed at achieving landscape-level change through thoughtful governance and community engagement. RiverWise and COG are working closely to align their efforts. Their collaboration will be on full display this summer during COG’s annual Local Government Conference focused on “Facing the Rivers.”

“Paying careful attention to our rivers raises all kind of issues of concern to municipal leaders,” COG President and RiverWise co-founder Rebecca Matsco said. “For the first time in quite a while, the work of RiverWise has initiated a truly regional conversation about what it means to steward our natural resources as municipal officials. The COG is honored to help lead these important conversations with the citizens of Beaver County.”

A calendar of public events for RiverWise will be published via social media later this month.

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Contact:
Daniel Rossi-Keen, RiverWise
386-748-3635
danielkeen@hotmail.com

Jack Manning, Beaver County Partnership for Community and Economic Growth
724-775-3944
jmanning@bcchamber.com

More About the Partnership: The Beaver County Partnership for Community and Economic
Development is a public/private partnership designed to leverage the multi-billion-dollar
investment by Shell Chemical in the county. Created by a collaboration of Beaver County
business and community leaders, the Partnership aims to attract business investment and
community development with the goal of having a positive impact on every aspect of life and
work in the region. More information is available at http://thebcpartnership.org/.