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Allegheny Conference Announces New Private Sector Leadership and 3-Year Agenda

Submitted by the Allegheny Conference

Allegheny ConferenceAt its annual meeting, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the region’s premier civic leadership and public-private partnership organization, officially announced new leadership in its board of directors. These leaders, from both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, serve three-year terms on the board and include chairs of priorities around which the organization’s new 2024-2026 agenda is built. The new agenda advances a long-range vision for regional vitality through four priorities focused on reaching policy and funding solutions around the region’s biggest opportunities and challenges. The priorities are:

  1. Downtown: Spearhead revitalization efforts.  Downtown Pittsburgh is the heart of the region and a significant economic engine.  A vibrant, future-focused urban core creates positive ripple effects that extend to main streets regionwide. Stabilize downtown by investing in vibrancy and safety in the short term; develop a multi-phased plan for reinvestment opportunities; define the vision for the future and identify the policy levers and funding to bring it to life.
  2. Inclusive Growth: Scale up efforts to drive inclusive growth, including attracting strategic, job-creating investment to the region and creating conditions to support the growth of existing businesses.  Focus on businesses that can have the highest impact on the region via jobs and capital investment and bolster the sectors where the region leads:  robotics, life sciences, energy and advanced manufacturing.
  3. Federal Investments: Maximize federal funding investments to build out industry clusters.  Put in place a civic architecture to attract more federal money and create a regional plan to raise awareness of emerging funding opportunities and equip partners regionwide with the knowledge and tools to secure federal funds.
  4. Thought Leadership: Step up thought leadership on strategic economic development issues. Leverage the power of data analysis, research and strategy to help the region tackle critical issues, including talent and workforce, demographics and population.

The Allegheny Conference will convene stakeholders and build coalitions to achieve goals associated with each priority and welcomes the following board of directors and chairs to the spearhead these efforts.

  • David L. Holmberg, Chair, Allegheny Conference; President and Chief Executive Officer, Highmark Health
  • Timothy M. Knavish, Vice Chair, Allegheny Conference; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PPG
  • Eric Boughner, Treasurer, Allegheny Conference; Chair, Audit & Finance Committee; Chairman, BNY Mellon PA
  • Rebekah Byers Kcehowski, Secretary, Allegheny Conference; Chair, Thought Leadership; Partner-in-Charge, Jones Day, Pittsburgh
  • William S. Demchak, Chair, Downtown, Allegheny Conference; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
  • Bryan Salesky, Chair, Inclusive Growth, Allegheny Conference; Chief Executive Officer, Stack AV
  • Kevin Walker, Chair, Energy Cluster, Allegheny Conference; President and Chief Executive Officer, Duquesne Light Company
  • Farnam Jahanian, Chair, Robotics Cluster, Allegheny Conference; President, Carnegie Mellon University
  • David K. Roger, Chair, Federal Investments, Allegheny Conference; President, Hillman Family Foundations
  • Casey Ryan, Chair, Personnel & Compensation Committee, Allegheny Conference; Global Managing Partner, Reed Smith LLP

“Based on the feedback the Allegheny Conference board heard from our 2023 listening tour across the region, I’m confident that we have identified the strategic goals we were asked to pursue.We have the right plan, committee structure and leadership in place to collaborate and efficiently advance the Conference’s new agenda,” said Allegheny Conference Chair David L. Holmberg.“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity we have over the next three years to continue to foster the critical public-private partnerships necessary for a prosperous and competitive future for all in the Pittsburgh region.” “With a new agenda and leadership, the Conference will be laser-focused on developing the solutions needed for transformational, regional change and will be empowered to the seize opportunities that will increase the region’s competitive advantage,” said Stefani Pashman, Allegheny Conference CEO. “For the next three years, we will be focused on convening our more than 250 Regional Investors and other stakeholders to address what must happen now so that our region will be globally competitive and be a place where everyone – natives and newcomers – thrives.”