Category: Programs

Managers passion for inclusion reflects dedication to diverse programming

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Programs that connect people with resources and inspire action are an essential step to building more vibrant communities; more importantly are the programs co-created by the community the organization serves.

It’s the programs that are about inclusion that Jamie Johnson, Manager of Performance Improvement at New Sun Rising, has a real passion to support. At NSR, Johnson leads risk management, program evaluation, and process assessment to improve the outcomes of the organization, but her keenness for doing so comes from her own experiences with Youth Places at the age of 15.

“We pretty much internally ran an organization as youth for our own community and it was a great experience,” Johnson said. “I feel like it taught me about nonprofit process and program development, but also taught me a lot about leadership.”

Johnson went on to serve her community through AmeriCorps before and between attending Edinboro University for psychology and sociology, and earning a Master’s of Education in Marriage and Family Therapy from Duquesne University.

It was at Edinboro where Johnson met Ebony McQueen-Harris. The two stayed connected, and later during their careers McQueen-Harris told Johnson about NSR and Ignite Northside, an accelerator program that supported entrepreneurs from idea to action in support of the goals of One Northside. At the time, McQueen-Harris was the program manager.

“I was a behavior specialist for an after school program at Faison [Arts Academy] and then I fully moved into social services and worked for an organization called Touching Families,” Johnson said. “I became the program director there, but [Ebony] knew I always had an interest in starting my own business.”

That nudge resulted in Johnson founding Build You Up!, a business based on applying her counseling skills to entrepreneurs and “being able to help business owners and leaders work on themselves internally, so they grow and become their best selves for their organization.”

By the time Ignite Northside 2.0 launched, McQueen-Harris had brought Johnson on board to help facilitate the program. Anne George was a program participant during that time and had regular meetings with Johnson and McQueen-Harris to pin down her business goals. George created the app iXMessage, designed for tween girls to socialize online in a trusted environment.

“[Johnson] really helped me step out of my shell,” George said. “Here is a person who has never worked with someone like me before, in that field, and she wasn’t daunted by it at all. She helped me advocate for myself and did that when no one had a product like mine; I just think that speaks to how good they are and how they know what to do for people to get their business started.”

There is a sincere commitment that Johnson has to the people she works with, and that was on full display during Ignite Northside where she helped participants like George dig into who they are as individuals and find out how that connects them to the work they do. This commitment, along with her passion for process and performance, come together to provide unique benefits to those she supports.

“She is a very [strategic] and detailed person,” said Brettney Duck, Executive Director of G.O girls, a nonprofit that serves young women transitioning out of foster care into adulthood.

Duck was a caseworker at Touching Families when she met Johnson, who was program director at the time. After Johnson left to join New Sun Rising, Duck soon followed suit to create her own venture: G.O girls. Because of Johnson’s inherent ability to lead and direct, she was the first person Duck thought of when creating the board of directors for her organization and asked Johnson to be the president.

Both Johnson and Duck work together facilitating My Place, a program created by ACTION-Housing for young adults between 18-24 who have aged out of the foster care system and need assistance. Earlier this year, NSR was contracted to build upon the success of the program and provide increased support for residents’ employment stability, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

“We don’t want to be another program offering services to young people who have gone through the system,” Duck said. “We are very intentional about that and always ask ‘What are you getting from this program?’, and the feedback we get is, ‘You make us feel comfortable.’”

“Jamie is a good partner to have, because she doesnt take over. I’m the lead consultant for the program and she gives me my room; it’s always nice to have those types of [allies].”

It’s through the lens of inclusion, performance improvement, and a genuine commitment to meet people where they are at that she shares her appreciation of professional awakening with business and nonprofit leaders.

“I want people to know that they can establish things for themselves and they can make an impact in their communities, they don’t have to wait,” Johnson said. “They can do it now.”

Sustainability director raises bar for environmental quality of life

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt
Above: Zaheen Hussain (left) speaks on a panel discussion during the Climate Change Town Hall event hosted by Congressman Mike Doyle at Soldiers & Sailors Hall in August.

 

It can be extremely overwhelming for an individual to sit and think about the impacts of climate change. With the hottest June and July ever recorded alongside two of the wettest years in Pennsylvania history, we see and feel it happening. (Que existential dread.)

But with these mountainous challenges come the challengers invested in inspiring others and generating positive environmental impacts, one being Zaheen Hussain, Director of Sustainability at New Sun Rising.

Named one of NEXTpittsburgh’s “25 Essential Pittsburghers” for “his groundbreaking work building the Triboro Ecodistrict,” Hussain said his dedication for environmentalism and climate change was instilled in him at an early age.

Hussain immigrated from Bangladesh to the United States in the 1990s with his family in part due to the growing climate crisis. Even then, his father was aware of the position Bangladesh would be put in 100 years in the future: under water.

“The climate change conversation today in America is where the rest of the world was in the early 90s,” Hussain said. “The Rio [de Janeiro Earth] Summit, the Kyoto Summit… America committed to taking action on slowing down climate change and building resiliency, and then that went away.”

Bangladesh has a population of around 165 million people and as Hussain put it, is “about the size of Wisconsin,” which has a population of around 6 million. Alongside impending climate change and to increase the access to opportunity and quality of life for their family, Hussain’s parents applied for the Diversity Visa Program and began the process of emigrating to the US.

In high school and throughout college, Hussain studied environmental technology, environmental science, and natural resource economics, “but the policy and economic side really spoke” to him. After graduating college, Hussain worked as a park ranger at Harkness Memorial State Park and William A. Niering Nature Preserve in his home state of Connecticut.  It was then that he started searching the country for sustainability work around policy and economics, and applied for a number of Student Conservation Association Green Cities fellowships here in Pittsburgh.

“I didn’t get any of them, but the program manager opened my eyes to an opportunity with GTECH [now Grounded] Strategies for the Green Economies Initiative,” Hussain said. “I moved to Pittsburgh in February of 2012 thinking I’d be here for 10 months to build experience and go back east, but seven and a half years later here I am.”

Hussain said a large part of his professional journey has been the implementation of the Millvale EcoDistrict and Triboro Ecodistrict initiative in Millvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg that for him began in 2015 when he was hired as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator. The Millvale EcoDistrict Pivot Plan began in 2013, “which looks at Millvale’s economic development through the lens of sustainability in food, water, energy, air quality, mobility and equity,” Hussain said.

Christine Mondor, Principal at evolveEA, met Hussain after he was hired as sustainability coordinator and said literally and figuratively he was a “breath of fresh air for [Millvale’s] efforts.” Mondor said the two specifically did a lot of work together monitoring air quality, and that Hussain is “passionate and nerdy about it in the best way possible.”

“He’s curious, so he’s always trying to understand what things mean,” Mondor said. “He knows [the science] behind what’s happening and that’s important. He’s also really good at making people feel comfortable and bringing people into the conversation.”

In 2017, Hussain became Director of Sustainability for New Sun Rising while continuing his work as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator and “implement[ing] the Ecodistrict plan with attention towards leadership development,” Hussain said. “[Therefore], community organizations and individuals can become more empowered to be the leaders of the work and rely less on outside capacity.”

In his position with New Sun Rising, Hussain advocates for the Vibrant Communities Framework and heads Launch Sustainability cohorts that provides coaching, project development resources, and support to strengthen business plans or grant proposals. He also spends time creating partnerships with organizations like the Green Building Alliance, Allegheny County Conservation District, and Sustainable Pittsburgh. Hussain said it’s these partnerships that help grow NSRs Vibrant Communities framework, which encompasses creating a more sustainable and equitable Pittsburgh.

Rebecca Bykoski, Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant Program Manager, met Hussain when he was hired as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator and joined the Sustainable Pittsburgh Board of Directors. Bykoski said for the time that she has known Hussain, she has noticed that he has “helped create a culture change.”

“Sustainability isn’t always about being green,” Bykoski said. “He’s good at making sure equity and the needs of disadvantaged communities are part of the conversation and that the development that’s happening is equitable.”

With Pittsburgh being one of the worst cities in the country for air pollution and related deaths, Hussain said he is concerned by the continued investment in fossil fuel economies in the region and how that will negatively impact the progress made in the area involving environmental quality and quality of life.

“As a general philosophy, I think that people can’t look at human systems and infrastructure as something outside of nature,” Hussain said. “What people need to realize is that humans are part of natural systems like any other animal. The more we look at ourselves as something outside of nature, the easier it becomes for us to destroy the environment around us because we don’t see it as something impacting our lives.”

That kind of meaningful and cogent argument is a genuine sentiment from Hussain that encourages individuals, communities, and organizations to do better.
“He’s a very inspirational person and he makes you care more and want to do more,” Bykoski said. “The world would be better if it were full of Zaheen’s.”

NSR receives $60,000 from Google to implement Growing Impact Through Data + Collaboration program

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: Beltzhoover and Knoxville leaders participate in the EcoDistricts Incubator at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub.

New Sun Rising received $60,000 in support from Google to implement Growing Impact through Data + Collaboration (GIT-COL), a program that will drive inclusive community economic development through increased data and technology use for collective impact by nonprofits and social enterprise businesses. 

Underserved leaders will also receive training to improve their own data literacy and help them to engage in effective collaboration, preparing them to better leverage technology.

“New Sun Rising is doing incredible work with the Pittsburgh community and Google is proud to support their latest Growing Impact through Data + Collaboration program. Creating economic opportunity for everyone through technology is a critical focus for Google and New Sun Rising is developing new pathways for the local nonprofit and small business community to gain access to tools and resources to help them grow and find success in today’s increasingly digital economy. We’re excited to see how this program will continue to push these leaders forward.” – Elizabeth Schwab, Head of External Affairs for Google Pittsburgh

The goal is to drive innovation in the social sector by supporting up to twelve nonprofits or small business leaders to increase their skills and knowledge related to data use and technology, to develop and implement an outcomes measurement strategy; and to create and implement an advocacy strategy. NSR will build upon existing relationships with partners throughout the Pittsburgh region with a focus on serving East End neighborhoods.

The Growing Impact through Data + Collaboration program includes four major components:

  • Data use (workshops + training)
  • Collaboration (development + support)
  • Technology (research + development)
  • Advocacy 

New Sun Rising will also work closely with The Forbes Funds and The Partnership Network, which together provide technical support in Nonprofit Capacity Building, Human Services, and the Community Development sectors. These partnerships offer targeted in-depth resources that leverage the partnerships capacity to serve the embattled communities strategically and pragmatically. 

The proposed project is expected to increase the technical proficiency of nonprofits and social enterprise businesses in the region to reach targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To kick off the GIT-COL program, New Sun Rising is seeking people with ideas for collaborative projects to apply for the Ignite Vibrancy: Collective Impact workshop on September 7, 2019. Participants will receive support from mentors and peers along with the opportunity to pitch for $30,000 in total awards during the one-day event.

ONS Mini-Grant applications being accepted now through 2020

Ignite Northside
Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: Melanie Sandoval reads with Aaron, a student from Spring Hill Elementary School involved in the after school reading program the Comic Book Shop, which received a 2018 ONS Mini-Grant.

Sometimes a lot of funding is needed to get a project off the ground, and sometimes it isn’t.

For those small-scale community projects, New Sun Rising’s One Northside Mini-Grants are back. Created to support community members in their efforts to elevate their neighborhoods, Northsiders can apply to receive $1,000 in funding to support initiatives that strengthen connections, increase accessibility to resources, and activate significant places in their community.

Applications will be released on August 1, 2019, accepted on an ongoing basis, and reviewed bi-monthly. Deadlines to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. on: August 31, 2019; October 31, 2019; January 30, 2019; March 31, 2020; May 31, 2020 based on the availability of funds.

One Northside Mini-Grants will be announced in September 2019, November 2019, February 2020, April 2020, and June 2020.

Grant recipients may also receive additional support through New Sun Rising and the One Northside Mini-Grant Street Team to develop their project and secure additional resources. Applications are currently being accepted for those who would like to join the Street Team; they must be Northside residents and will support community members in their efforts to advance the ONS vision.

Members of the Street Team will receive a stipend of $1,500 and must be able to commit 60 hours in total, including training, throughout the months of August, September, October, November in 2019 and February 2020. Individuals of the Street Team are expected to educate and support community members about ONS Mini-Grants and help submit applications, as well as communicate the mini-grant program with residents and program partners individually and at neighborhood events.

Individuals who are awarded mini-grants may be able to find additional funding through ioby, which gives local leaders the ability to crowdfund the resources they need to build real, lasting change from the ground up. Pittsburghers specifically have raised over $500,000 for community programs. Currently, the ioby One Northside Crowdfunding Challenge will double donations to Northside projects.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend Information Workshops to meet with New Sun Rising staff and the One Northside Mini-Grant Street Team to learn more about the application process. Additionally, the Street Team will be available for informal meet-ups at community locations as requested. Check the schedule online at www.newsunrising.org/project/ignite-northside  for workshop locations, dates, and times. Contact New Sun Rising staff with your inquiry or other questions by phone (412) 407-9007 or email vibrancyfunds@newsunrising.org. If you’re interested in hosting an information session in your neighborhood, please let us know.

Interested applicants are invited to attend the One Northside Community Project Support Slam Kickoff event from 6-8 p.m. on August 21 to honor past grantees and share information about ONS and ioby. Location is to be decided and updates will be posted on New Sun Rising’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.

New Sun Rising is also seeking up to five community members to serve on the Mini-Grant Evaluation Committee, which will review applications virtually and meet six times over the coming year to discuss and approve them.

Those interested in becoming a member of the ONS Mini-Grant Street Team can send their resume or questions to vibrancyfunds@newsunrising.org. This email can also be used to contact NSR for those interested in being on the Mini-Grant Evaluation Committee.

The preferred method to submit mini-grant applications is online at www.newsunrising.org/project/ignite-northside.

Printed applications will be accepted at the Allegheny and Woods Run Carnegie Libraries during normal business hours and by postal mail. Individuals can also submit their application as attachments to vibrancyfunds@newsunrising.org. Postal mail submissions should be addressed to New Sun Rising, attn. One Northside Mini-Grant, P.O. Box 58005, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15209 and must be received by the grant deadline. All projects must end by August 1, 2020.

Diverse experience of director leads people to take action

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: Daniel Stiker (center) tabling for New Sun Rising at Pittonkatonk in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Solomon Pugliano)

The combination of passion and profession could be defined as soul work; the feeling of fulfillment through actively contributing to the common good. It’s something that most hope to obtain during their lifetimes and they’re fortunate to find it.

“Looking back at where I had joy and where I thought I could find it, and meaningful soul work, was with nonprofits,” said Daniel Stiker, the Director of Culture + Operations at New Sun Rising.

Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Stiker left for several years in the late 1990s and moved to New York City. While there, he worked for a dotcom and got involved with the Beggar’s Group Theatre Club that primarily focused on underground and political performances. He said it was a life changing experience for him to be involved with a performing group that focused on important issues and “made a difference.”

“Theatre often moves people, sometimes to action, and that’s the theatre that I like,” Stiker said.

Similarly, nonprofit work is about moving people to action. Stiker said being heavily involved in theatre prepared him for his role in the nonprofit world and how to effectively communicate with people to create positive change.

Devin Montgomery, co-founder and executive director of Protohaven, began working with New Sun Rising in 2017 and Stiker was his primary contact. Montgomery said Protohaven was conceived to “preserve a community workshop” that would have otherwise disappeared without the fiscal sponsorship and guidance from NSR. Today, Montgomery said Protohaven is a nonprofit professional space for entrepreneurs and makers of any kind to create and scale their projects, “whatever that may be.”

“It was so helpful to go in as a new nonprofit and talk to someone who had a great deal of experience working with different funders and navigating [grant] requirements,” Montgomery said. “Dan has dealt with so many people in the same position that he really has a breadth of experience working with people in our situation that you don’t see in many other places.”

Stiker brings that cognizance to New Sun Rising, but it’s also what drew him to the nonprofit. When he returned to Pittsburgh in 2001, Stiker started a theatre company with Heather Lynn McNeish Gray and was able to land a tech support position with a large local nonprofit. Wanting to make more of an impact in the nonprofit realm, Stiker went back to university and obtained his bachelor’s and graduate degree in nonprofit management.

He began working with an organization that he loved, but still felt that he wasn’t fulfilling his soul work. So, in 2014 he founded the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival.

It was around this time Stiker heard about New Sun Rising and that it was looking for a board member. He ended up becoming the Vice Chair for the board with NSR Founder and Executive Director Scott Wolovich as Chair, and staff positions opened up as the nonprofit grew.

“At the time, and now, the mission of New Sun Rising is that soul work,” Stiker said. “It’s making an impact and working for the common good.”

Today, as the Director of Culture + Operations, Stiker works closely with Wolovich and Jamie Johnson, Manager of Performance Improvement. They touch base with every project, with Stiker and Johnson being the main contacts for fiscal sponsorships.

Ebony McQueen-Harris, founder and principal consultant at LEVELS Consulting, worked with Stiker around 2016 when she was managing Ignite Northside, a program under NSR that provides emerging social businesses and community project leaders with mentorship and development workshops. McQueen-Harris said what she has appreciated the most about Stiker is his realistic approach and support of those businesses and projects that NSR works with.

“Dan takes an objective stance when working with someone and asks ‘Is this business a viable fiscal sponsorship entity?’” McQueen-Harris said. “Business owners in the startup stage can be sensitive to critiques because it’s their baby, and I understand that, but Dan is kind of off the cuff and says, ‘This is your baby, but this is what I’m seeing and the things you need to consider.’”

Montgomery echoed this sentiment and said that Stiker’s ability to be “approachable and empathetic” makes it easy for others to open up and be frank during difficult conversations.

“That is very valuable and something about his personality that makes him suitable for the role he’s in.”

Work Hard Pittsburgh and New Sun Rising announce nearly $1 million in new funding for Hilltop workforce development

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Pittsburgh, PA – Work Hard Pittsburgh, in conjunction with New Sun Rising (NSR), will expand its workforce development and regional tech equity initiatives in Pittsburgh’s Hilltop neighborhoods, thanks to $950,000 in total funding commitments over two years from the Hillman Foundation and The Heinz Endowments

In its first year, 80 individuals will participate in job training programs with contracted partners, including the Academy PGH coding academy and Work Hard Pittsburgh. The Hilltop Workforce Development Program will provide equitable access to training, apprenticeships, and living wage job placement in tech and tech-adjacent industries primarily in Pittsburgh’s Hilltop and southern neighborhoods.

“Much of the disparity we see in who benefits from the tech economy can be linked to a lack of access. It is encouraging to see this significant investment in training and placement programs that are embedded within the community and directly informed by industry need,” said Scott Wolovich, Executive Director of New Sun Rising. 

The program will build off of the success of Academy PGH, a 12-week intensive coding academy that has placed over 80 participants into full-time careers since 2016. Half of all Academy participants are from underrepresented groups in tech, and graduates average a starting salary of $58,000. It will also extend into tech-adjacent careers, such as digital marketing and medical billing, a growing sector in which many socioeconomic groups are also underrepresented.

The Work Hard Pittsburgh digital media cooperative is currently working to establish a state-of-the-art training facility in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, its home since 2012. Included in the new building will be a 25-person classroom, full media production suite, private offices, conference rooms, and coworking desk space. In the interim, WHPGH will use its existing facilities on East Warrington Ave. and partner with neighborhood organizations to begin training. 

“Work Hard Pittsburgh is providing real opportunity. Not only economically, but through inclusivity, and we’ve made a decision to be intentional about it,” said Maximilian Dennison, Digital Inclusion and Equity Coordinator of Work Hard Pittsburgh. 

Fifty percent of the slots for these new initiatives are reserved for demographics that are underrepresented in tech and tech-adjacent industries. Currently, only 10 percent and 12 percent of computer science majors are Black and Latino respectively, while 83 percent of tech executives are white. Furthermore, women in STEM make $16,000 less on average than their male counterparts, while Black and Latino people make $14,000 less than their white coworkers. The coming economic changes caused by emerging technologies means cause underserved and underrepresented populations will suffer the most from an increasing wealth gap. 

 

About Work Hard Pittsburgh
Max Dennison and Josh Lucas, Executive Committee Members, Work Hard Pittsburgh
Info@workhardpgh.com
412-376-5111
Work Hard Pittsburgh is a cooperatively owned and operated business incubator that combines media and technology services with training, sales support, and access to capital. They provide entrepreneurs with a path to start, scale, and sustain their business ventures. Since 2016, WHPGH has generated over $1.25 million in paid contracts to tech and tech-adjacent gig economy workers, 50 percent of whom live below or near the poverty line.

About New Sun Rising
Scott Wolovich, Executive Director, New Sun Rising
scott@newsunrising.org
412-855-7433
New Sun Rising supports nonprofits and small businesses to build vibrant communities through culture, sustainability, and opportunity. NSR believes that all people and communities hold the knowledge and power to make positive change. We envision a future where regenerative community development practices create the conditions for true social, environmental, and economic justice.

Nonprofits prepare for accelerator program’s final pitch event

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: The SVP Full Circle Spring 2019 Cohort and SVP Partners during a happy hour and networking event in May at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub.

While they embody different missions, the common thread amongst the SVP Full Circle Spring 2019 Cohort is a familiar one for those who work in not-for-profit organizations.

“With nonprofit work you think big and want to save the world on a zero dollar budget,” said Jackie Smith, executive director of Greater Valley Community Services. “And [the coaches] keep it in perspective.”

Social Venture Partners Full Circle is a 14-week accelerator program that combines consulting, workshops, seminars, networking and a final pitch event that will take place on Wednesday, June 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Energy Innovation Center, 1435 Bedford Ave.

Meant for nonprofits that are at a critical juncture regarding their organizations future development, the program looks for applicants that are committed to achieving measurable outcomes and ready to expand and grow their impact.

The coaches that Smith referred to, also known as SVP Partners, are individuals engaged within the nonprofit community that are able to contribute their time and energy to furthering the advancement of the selected nonprofits chosen to participate in the program.

“The Full Circle Program is an incredible opportunity for nonprofit leaders and SVP Partners from the corporate sector to work collectively to improve internal operations and develop strategies for growth,” said Leigh Solomon Pugliano, Full Circle manager and director of opportunity at New Sun Rising. “It also provides greater insight to the corporate sector, the issues our communities are facing, and the incredible work our nonprofits do to make change.”

The program is held in the fall and spring, and accepts a total of five nonprofits each season. Recently, four out of the five organizations gathered for a happy hour event at the Millvale Food + Energy Hub to network and practice for the final pitch event on June 26. During the event, individuals shared their nonprofits history and the key areas they have been working on within the program. Those organizations included:

Greater Valley Community Services

Based in Braddock, Greater Valley Community Services was created to strengthen and hold S.P.A.C.E (supportive programs affording collaborative engagement) for youth, adults, and seniors in the community. Executive Director Jackie Smith said that recently there has been a disconnect between residents and the businesses coming into the neighborhood, especially with youth, and when she read the description for the Full Circle program felt that the fit them perfectly.

“We’ve been stuck in a place and thought this might be the boost that we needed for the program that we wanted to work on,” Smith said.

Partnering with the Woodland Hills School District and entrepreneurs in the community, GVCS plans to create a program that will connect high school students to small business owners who will work together to create marketing plans, websites, and eventually apps for the neighborhood businesses. Smith said the SVP coaches have been instrumental in understanding the best ways to engage both students and businesses, and in deciding how classes will be structured for students in the program.

Unity Through Creativity

The Grounding Lab, a program under Unity Through Creativity, is situated in Hazelwood and uses arts infused techniques to assist people experiencing despair and enhance their emotional coping skills through contemplative process of deep self-reflection. With 40 years of nursing experience and research, Creative Director Margaret Baco said she has developed the understanding that true healing from traumatic experiences can come from engaging in expressive arts.

Baco said the SVP coaches have helped her focus on creating a community strategy, program development, strategic thinking, and networking. Specifically, she said she has appreciated the connections between those in the program.

“We are attracting one another during this dynamic process and New Sun Rising is able to see how networking through this cohort can strengthens our capacity to function,” Baco said. “It’s an outcome that I am deeply grateful for.”

Legacy Arts Project

In 2005, Erin Perry became a member of the dance ensemble at Legacy Arts Project, an organization focused on preserving the history and traditions of African arts as represented throughout the diaspora through education, instruction and interactions. In 2011, Perry became the executive director and has continued to expand the vision and grow the organization. She said Legacy Arts Project is “not only the exploration of African art, but also the exploration of self and well being.

Perry said joining the Full Circle program has provided guidance on fiscal sponsorships and marketing, and has also “rejuvenated” the nonprofits outlook around its programming and impact it has made in the Homewood community.

“If we were to have a personality assessment of our organization, [I’d say] we are humble,” Perry said. “At the same time we haven’t done a full service to the organization in promoting the work we do or have done, and the coaches have allowed us to recognize humility and pride in the power that has been going on and motivated us to tell the story.”

Coraopolis Community Development Foundation

The Coraopolis Community Development Foundation was formed to serve its community by encouraging and assisting in renewal through community service and development projects, and Executive Director Amy Cavicchia said if she asks someone to volunteer, it’s because it’s something she’s also going to do herself.

Cavicchia has been easing in to her position at the nonprofit over the last two years and said her work with the Full Circle program has been focused on her elevator pitch and donor management.

“This program has really kept me focused and realizing what you can do and what you can’t do.” Cavicchia said. “Write it down, figure it out, do what you can and don’t worry about what you can’t do, because you can’t do it.”

Associated Artists Pittsburgh

Associated Artists Pittsburgh was unavailable during the event. Their mission is to enhance the region’s cultural vitality and promote visual arts excellence by showcasing artists’ work through contemporary exhibitions, providing community-based education programs, and facilitating a broad dialogue to engage artists with one another and the community.

Launch Sto-Rox participants share personal + professional outcomes

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: Launch Sto-Rox participants at the Showcase + Celebration held in May 2019.

Lawshawn Reed started her company Strong Ambitious Women in 2015 to offer strength based services surrounding self-esteem and confidence in young girls.

Reed works in Pittsburgh Public Schools and the inspiration for her to start her business came from seeing young children dealing with difficult issues or traumatic experiences that in turn impacted their self-esteem.

“I wanted to show them how to reclaim and reprogram their minds, and how to navigate through life and understand themselves,” Reed said.

She said even though the company was founded four years ago, she was struggling to adequately maintain the financial side of her business and understand they kind of service she was providing.

“I was mentoring [kids], but I didn’t understand the kind of mentorship I was providing and Launch Sto-Rox helped me identify that,” Reed said.

Launch Sto-Rox is a 12-month Vibrant Communities program from New Sun Rising for small businesses and entrepreneurs whose core concepts aligned with the Sto-Rox community’s priorities for development. The program concluded this spring and held a showcase and celebration in early May. Over the past year, program participants worked with coaches and focused on strengthening four key areas: business plans, connectivity, resources, and identity.

“Overall [the experience] was exceptional,” Reed said. “It challenged me to do more research and be more intentional on what I do and understanding the worth of myself and the company.”

Tino Brockington felt similarly. His business PittMovers is a moving service company based in McKees Rocks and caters to residents within the city limits. Brockington said he learned how to structure his business in a way that is “more predictable” so they can forecast and plan accordingly, but he also appreciated being able to connect with other small business owners.

“It gave us the ability to network with other individuals experiencing the same thing we were going through,” Brockington said. “[It gave us] a better focus on what we are working towards, because at the end of the day we have the same goal and that’s to be successful.”

The program allowed Brockington to think critically of PittMovers and how he can better service the community, and he said Launch Sto-Rox opened him up to creating a moving assistance program for local residents who do not have the means or the ability to move on their own.

“[Launch Sto-Rox] is a great starting point for any small business,” Brockington said.

Reed agreed, saying that it’s a valuable program for a small business owner in any stage of development.

“Anyone looking to identify their company and understand the necessary steps to take to grow their business, or they just want to know how to start the business and become vital in whatever they’re doing, this program will be a benefit for them.”

My Place partnership provides added support for at-risk youth

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Teenage years are a turbulent time for most, and as young adults begin to enter their early 20s it can become a complicated journey to find ones place in the world.

Even with a stable living arrangement it can be a difficult age to navigate, but for those who are chronically homeless the focus transitions from self-discovery to survival.

For young people in that situation and who have aged out of the foster care system, ACTION-Housing began My Place, a program for young adults between the ages of 18-24 to provide rapid rehousing, employment, and mental health support for those who are homeless or are at risk.

These young adults stay in the program for up to 24 months in a 1-bedroom apartment in the Pittsburgh area and the goal is to enable the participants to ultimately live independent, self-sufficient lives. Since 1957, the organization has been assisting individuals and families in difficult situations. Within the past year, the My Place program has helped 49 young adults.

This spring, New Sun Rising was contracted by ACTION-Housing to build upon the success of My Place to provide increased support for residents’ employment stability, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The program is delivered through three workshops a month with individual artists Quaishawn Whitlock of 1stLayer, Lashawn Reed of Strong Ambitious Women, and Emily Marko.

“We’re meeting them where they’re at,” said Jamie Johnson, My Place Program Coordinator and Manager of Performance Improvement at NSR.

“Some have goals of wanting to be business owners and some need employment right now, but they’re also dealing with personal things like mental health issues and learning disabilities,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to help them develop stable employment to maintain a living situation on their own.”

Those involved in the program do so voluntarily, which Johnson said can raise issues about attendance consistency, but she, the artists, and Lead Facilitator Brettney Duck of G.O. girls have been putting in the effort to develop trust and transparency.

The program staff focus on four development initiatives: planning, connectivity, resources, and identity. Lashawn Reed of Strong Ambitious Women said she touches these four areas, but mainly she is working with the young adults on creating identity.

The main age demographic that Reed works with is usually in 5th or 6th grades, and that can be easier to instill confidence and “plant the seed.” Its been more challenging to work with young adults who have already “made up their mind” about who they are.

“Now you have to convince them that they can be that confident person,” Reed said.

She uses her self-esteem building and strength based services to coach those in the program on creating a brand and teaches them how self-worth and confidence can impact their businesses. All three of the artists are small business owners, which gives them a chance to talk honestly about their own entrepreneurial journeys during their workshops.

Johnson said they have a steady group of three to five youths in the program. Up to 10 young adults are able to join My Place, but the smaller group has worked out well and staff has been able to give enough attention to each individual to work through their personal and entrepreneurial endeavors.

“They’re a resilient bunch of young adults,” Johnson said. “I feel like as long as we can make an impact and help [them], we are happy regardless of the number.”

GROW Residency program now accepting applications

Posted on by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: PearlArts Studios at New Sun Rising’s Vibrancy Awards in March 2019. PearlArts participated in the first iteration of the GROW Residency program. (Photo by Sean Gray)

You’re invited to apply for New Sun Rising’s GROW Residency program. As a participant of this program, you’ll work the Director of Opportunity and the NSR team to move towards the growth and sustainability of your business or organization.

The GROW Residency program will provide flexible, ongoing support to growth stage businesses, nonprofit projects, and community/collaborative initiatives. Residents will have access to workshops and services specifically designed to meet their needs, including up to 8 hours of consulting and capacity building support per month.

The GROW Residency curriculum includes:

  • Business Mentoring
  • Professional Development
  • Organizational Development
  • Networking / Connecting Opportunities
  • Revenue Model Development
  • Advocacy (introduction to potential funders, collaborators, and partners)
  • Review of Grants and Project Proposals
  • Pitch Development

Successful completion of the residency will move your organization through strategic action and planning that promotes long-term value and profitability. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will receive an unrestricted financial award of $2000 and access to grants and loans via the GROW Vibrancy Fund. Each cohort will have 7 participants selected by a committee of judges.

Applications close on May 24th. The 2019 GROW Residency Program kicks off on June 12th. To learn more about the program before you apply, contact leigh@newsunrising.org to schedule a meeting. Apply here.

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.”