Pitt & Diversity

Clyde Wilson Pickett, a leading expert in higher education diversity and inclusion strategy, has been named the University of Pittsburgh’s vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion. Charged with ensuring a welcome, inclusive and equitable environment for students, faculty and staff across all campuses, Pickett is set to start in July 2020.

Pickett is no stranger to Pittsburgh. An alumnus of the Doctor of Education (EdD) program in Pitt’s School of Education, he served as chief diversity officer for the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), and most recently, as chief diversity officer for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. While at Minnesota State, Pickett was responsible for leading and developing system-wide diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and policy guidance for Minnesota State’s 54 campuses.

In his new role, Pickett will collaborate with University leadership to ensure that Pitt’s mission, vision and strategic priorities are aligned with creating a more inclusive, diverse culture of belonging. He will also lead proactive initiatives, services, connections and education across Pitt’s campuses pertaining to diversity and inclusion. In the last academic year, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion underwent a strategic restructure to position itself toward more focused, proactive work with an emphasis on prevention and education.

“There is no one better to serve in the position of vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion than Clyde Pickett,” said Kathy Humphrey, senior vice chancellor for engagement and secretary of the Board of Trustees. “I am delighted to welcome Clyde to the University of Pittsburgh, where his experience and leadership will help us live up to our commitment of making Pitt a more equitable place.”

“I am very excited about joining the University of Pittsburgh and working collaboratively on strategies to further advance equity, access, inclusion and belonging at the University,” said Pickett. “I am appreciative for the opportunity and am committed to working hard to establish strong relationships built on trust, integrity, authenticity, visibility and transparency.”

Pickett has assumed various leadership roles over the course of his career including advancing best practices for diversity; recruitment; and the retention of students, staff and faculty of color. He is an expert in organizational leadership development and data-informed decision-making related to diversity and inclusion. An administrator and scholar with considerable experience translating theory into practice, he has expertise in strategic planning and Title IX.

Pickett’s professional accomplishments include:

• Establishing and implementing the Minnesota State Equity and Inclusion Council, composed of stakeholders from eight bargaining units consisting of faculty, staff, students and administrators.
• Developing a system-wide framework to examine campus climate at the 37 Minnesota State institutions.
• Developing and executing a strategy to apply equity as a formal component of policy review.
• Developing and facilitating a leadership training for new career and aspiring senior diversity officers.
• Organizing a systemwide cultural competency training for all employees at CCAC.
• Developing initiatives at Ohio Northern University, where he served as director of multicultural development and director of new student orientation, that resulted in a 43% increase in retention of students of color and consulting on projects that increased the University’s population of students of color by 7%.
• Established a multicultural center at Ohio Northern University.

At Pitt, Pickett will succeed Pamela Connelly, who served as the University’s first vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion and stepped down in January 2020. Katie Pope, associate vice chancellor of civil rights and Title IX, served as interim vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion while a national search for Connelly’s successor was conducted.

Homewood is home to many of Pittsburgh’s most admired small businesses, who for decades have lined the neighborhood’s main streets -- from Salik’s Hardware, to Wade’s Barber Shop, or Dana’s Bakery, the neighborhood is home to over 100 independently owned businesses.

Since launching in 2014, The Homewood-Brushton Business Association (HBBA), whose goal is to foster the development and growth of the Homewood-Brushton Business Community, has been dedicated to marketing their neighborhood businesses, hosting events and small business workshops, connecting entrepreneurs with resources, and building a strong network of small business owners within the community. 

COVID-19 has left Pittsburgh’s small business owners and neighborhood business district organizations wondering how to overcome the economic impact of small business closures and slowdowns after many years, or even decades, of efforts were made to reinvest and build their local commercial corridors. Since first feeling the impact of COVID-19 as a nation, HBBA was at the forefront of creating solutions to best serve their small business community.  With the understanding that Homewood small business would be hit hard by the economic consequences of Pennsylvania’s mandated stay-at-home order, HBBA worked to connect with local leaders and agencies to compile and distribute resources.

HBBA was awarded $10,000 by The POISE Foundation to support the HBBA COVID-19 4-key Priorities Plan (Wellness, Continuity, Outreach and Needs Assessment).  As an outreach objective, HBBA has created, assembled, and is distributing “Back to Business” boxes to dozens of businesses. The kits contain masks, hand sanitizer, bleach, hand soap, paper towels, gloves, social distancing floor decals and arrows, CDC guidelines and tips for safety, neighborhood updates and upcoming events hosted by the organization.

HBBA, an all-volunteer board of neighborhood small businesses and stakeholders, purchased the supplies, packed the boxes, and has distributed 31 “Back to Business” kits to Homewood businesses with another round to come.  The hope that the kits could both ignite engagement and support safe reopening. 

With the development of commercial retail facing another uphill battle, the work of the HBBA is more important than ever. The group hopes to continue its efforts to promote the purchase of gift cards, take-out, and online shopping through their up-to-date website:  http://homewoodbiz.org/giftcards/  and continue to raise funds to help support Homewood-based businesses in small ways, and every day.

Brittee Clay, owner of Jones Printing and President of HBBA notes: “As long as there is life, there is a potential; and as long as there is a potential, there will be a success! You will sprout again when cut down! You will rise again even when you fall!”, and that’s just what businesses in Homewood will do. 

If you are interested in supporting the ongoing efforts of HBBA, PayPal donations can be sent to hbba.payment@gmail.com.  To follow our upcoming events, please stay tuned to https://www.facebook.com/hbbapa.  For more information, check out our website here http://homewoodbiz.org/.

 PITTSBURGH, PA (May 15, 2020) – The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) Board of Directors this morning expressed its disappointment in the announcement the Pittsburgh Penguins made immediately following the regularly scheduled May URA Board meeting. At the meeting, the URA Board voted to briefly delay preliminary approval on Block G1, proposed to be a new headquarters for F.N.B. Corp., and other items related to the Lower Hill Development. Board members requested two weeks to review materials that the development team provided well past the usual deadline.

The Penguins’ statement notes many public benefits that could result from their proposed development on the Lower Hill. Indeed, this development has the potential to result in thousands of family-sustaining jobs; historic commitments to workforce development and MWBE participation; millions of dollars flowing into the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund; and additional millions for affordable housing initiatives in the Middle and Upper Hill District. However, in order to ensure these commitments are real and concrete, URA staff and board members need to time to review and underwrite the deal.

“Despite broad support for the general concept, both from the URA and the Greater Hill District community, it’s a matter of public record that the development team knew in April that much more work was needed to solidify details on commitments made to the public in previous agreements,” said Board member Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle. “The minimum turnaround time usually requested is five business days.”

“This is truly a transformative development, worthy of public support, and so it should also be strong enough to withstand a short delay for review,” said URA Executive Director Greg Flisram. “We know that we can achieve development goals while also realizing tangible community benefits; at today’s URA, we understand those are complementary, not competing, goals.”

The URA Board and staff remain committed to advancing Pittsburgh’s economy in a way that leaves no one behind. The URA plans to announce a special board meeting, as early as next week, to finish the delayed business as soon as possible.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced that it will open two new research and development centers - one in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Zoom will immediately begin recruiting software engineering talent in these geographies. Employees will work from home until the offices are built and COVID-19-related isolation has abated, expected for fall 2020. While the company has not finalized the office locations, Zoom is looking for space near Arizona State University and Carnegie Mellon University, both of which have exceptional engineering programs. These two centers will add to Zoom’s existing R&D and support Zoom’s engineering leadership, which is based at its San Jose, California headquarters. 

“Both Phoenix and Pittsburgh have incredibly well-educated, skilled, and diverse talent pools that are well-positioned to help support Zoom’s ongoing growth and continued success,” said Eric S. Yuan, CEO of Zoom. “We plan to hire up to 500 software engineers between these two cities in the next few years, drawing largely on recent graduates of the many local universities. We look forward to expanding our team and seeing what we accomplish together as we continue to build our world-leading video communications platform with best-in-class reliability, scalability, privacy, and security.”

“Zoom’s expansion into the Phoenix market reflects the success of our efforts to grow and support a new economy for Arizona that is based on technology and innovation,” said Michael M. Crow, President of Arizona State University. “With 4,500 engineering graduates per year and a nationally competitive faculty that have been honored with the highest awards in their fields, we are making great strides in creating a top-tier, concentrated environment of technology and talent in greater Phoenix to support the workforce and research and development needs of companies like Zoom.”

“We are so thrilled that Zoom is planning to establish a research and development center in Pittsburgh, a world-leading hub for engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence,” said Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University. “With our visionary faculty and exceptionally talented students, Carnegie Mellon is catalyzing revolutionary work to accelerate digital transformation across markets and industries, and we look forward to partnering with Zoom to enhance their remarkable momentum in defining the future of virtual interactions.”

Zoom is working with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance to make expansion into these cities a success. To explore open roles at Zoom, visit zoom.us/careers.

About Zoom
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) brings teams together to get more done in a frictionless and secure video environment. Our easy, reliable, and innovative video-first unified communications platform provides video meetings, voice, webinars, and chat across desktops, phones, mobile devices, and conference room systems. Zoom helps enterprises create elevated experiences with leading business app integrations and developer tools to create customized workflows. Founded in 2011, Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices around the world. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us.

The Steelers offseason is in full swing, even if much of it is being done in a virtual world. The 2020 schedule came out last week, the team held their virtual rookie minicamp, and now players are taking part in virtual meetings, with rookies to veterans all working together with their position coaches via zoom.

It's not a normal offseason in the football world, but Coach Mike Tomlin told fans during the Steelers Nation Unite Huddle that they are moving forward with all teams in the NFL in the same boat.

"We face a lot of challenges, my mentality, and the group mentality is going to be they are challenges that everyone faces," said Tomlin. "From that standpoint it's going to be fair and the playing field is going to be level. We have to be light on our feet. There is going to be a period of adjustment from a scheduling standpoint as we gain our footing in terms of logistics of what day-to-day looks like and things of that nature.

"The entire National Football League will be going through it and I just think if we perform relatively better than others we put ourselves in position to be that team at the end of the journey. That is always our mentality regarding the start of a season."

The release of the schedule, with the Steelers opening the regular season against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14, helps Tomlin with the planning and preparation.

"There was some angst before the schedule came out in terms of what the calendar looks like," said Tomlin. "Every year I build my calendar backwards from opening day. As long as I have an opening date, I have a framework in which to begin some planning. I just need to be light on my feet and understand some adjustments will be involved from there.

"We have a point from which to begin. The regular season and preseason schedule. We build our calendar back from that. We are excited about doing it. It's going to look different for us this year logistically in a lot of ways I am sure. That could be said for all of us. We are just ready to do it better than those we compete against."

Tomlin took questions from fans across the country, as well as some submitted online, and the topics ranged from the health of Ben Roethlisberger and Stephon Tuitt, to the depth chart at quarterback and much more.

Tomlin on virtual Rookie Minicamp

More from Tomlin:

On Roethlisberger's health:
"He is doing great thus far. He is in great physical condition. Rehabilitation in regard to the injury itself is going well. I hear nothing but positive reports from that standpoint. There have been no bumps in the road. The fact that the injury and subsequent surgery happened so early in the season in 2019 is probably an asset to him and to us as we push into 2020. I think everybody is comfortable with where things are. We're excited about him and what he is going to do for us this year."

On what the depth chart looks like at quarterback:
"We like to sort those things out through competition. As we are positioned today, Mason Rudolph is our backup quarterback. We have some capable guys who have logged some time and gained some interest for obvious reasons vying for the other spots. (Devlin) Hodges played some last year because of obvious circumstances. We were able to pick up Paxton Lynch, who is a former first rounder in the midst of the journey last year. We have some candidates. Mason Rudolph had an opportunity to gain some experience last year. We expect him to be better. He expects to be better. We are comfortable with the mix we have right now, not that we are opposed to get better at any position as we proceed if it makes sense to us."
* On if he started any new hobbies during quarantine:*
"I am binge watching Netflix and usually that is not my style. I am on 'Joe Exotic' like everybody else."

On how he decides to use personnel groups each week and how the tight ends work into that, especially with the addition of Eric Ebron:
"The personnel packages week-to-week have a lot to do with what we desire to be that week based on those available to us, but also some opponent related things relative to match up. Some weeks, if we have two tight ends available or three tight ends available, and from a matchup standpoint it creates issues for our opponents, then you might see that personnel group rise that week. And then it might be two or three subsequent weeks that it might not be as big because the variables aren't in play. That is why it's important you have quality depth and good players all around. You know that injury and so forth are part of the game and people are going to miss time.

"Number two you want to be able to create unique personnel groups and matchups for those you compete against. We are excited about having Ebron in the mix. We know that he and Vance McDonald are the type of duo that are capable of creating issues for people with their talent. We are excited about having those guys. We will sort out the usage of those guys week-to-week. We know invariably those guys and others have a chance to really make us versatile and make us an issue for those who we play against."

On the inside linebacker position and finding someone to replace Ryan Shazier and the cornerback position and others stepping up:
"We took Devin Bush a year ago and as a 20-year old he logged a bunch of snaps for us. We feel good about the overall trajectory of his play. Sometimes when you feel like you have a need it doesn't necessarily mean going out and getting a new component. It's about the improvement of the component you have. We are excited about him taking a significant step between year one and year two as a quality inside linebacker for us, being an all situations type player. To be the type of player to play to a Pro Bowl caliber level the way Ryan Shazier did.

"We are really excited about (cornerback) Justin Layne in the same way. He was a rookie a year ago. Was inactive early on. Carved out a role for himself as a special teamer. He is going through the natural participation, developmental process. Really distinguished himself in a positive way in a practice setting over the second half of the year. Those are usually signs a guy is going to take a step in his second year. We are exited about him and his development and what he can bring to us at the cornerback position, just as like we are excited about the development of Devin Bush and him taking a significant step off a solid rookie campaign he gave us at linebacker."
* On who Chase Claypool will begin behind on the depth chart, guys such as JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and James Washington:*
"I am not going to thoughtfully place him behind anybody. He might come in and carve out a significant role for himself. That is just the mentality I try to convey all of the time with everyone. I want Chase to know there aren't any glass ceilings in terms of what he can do and be for us, not only this year but over the course of his career. He'll be given the opportunity to let his talents show. The other guys you mentioned are talented people as well. Thus the competition. Competition makes us all better and whole and puts us in position to be a good unit and us a good team. He has talent, no question. I like his play demeanor. He is a sharp young man. I see no reason why he can't put himself in the mix and quite frankly we expect him to."**

On if he expects the running back position to be by committee with the group they have, which includes the addition of Anthony McFarland, or will James Conner be the featured runner:**
"I'm a feature runner type guy by mentality. I think that if you have a featured runner it gives them an opportunity to drop a stake in the ground and allows others to rally around him. It gives you a set of core phase run plays that he specializes in and you find a rhythm in that way. But no question in today's game that a feature runner needs to be supplemented and supplemented by guys who are capable of doing similar things in case he misses time, but also supplemented by guys who are capable of doing different things to maybe challenge the defense in different ways and I think that's just the makeup of our group right now.

"James is a feature runner and a proven guy when healthy and we're excited about him getting back to health and displaying that in 2020. Benny Snell is a guy who plays with a physical style in a similar manner as James and might be capable of being a James-type guy if James is unavailable. As you mentioned we're excited about McFarland, who brings a different component. He's got catch quickness and is quick to speed and is capable of producing big plays in open spaces. We like the collection of guys we have in the group.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the addition of Derek Watt at the fullback position. We're excited about him. We're excited about what the group is going to do largely, but usually when it's doing well it's because you have a lead dog out front and that guy is the featured runner."

On Stephon Tuitt's health:
"Stephon is doing really well. Like I mentioned with Ben earlier, his injury occurred at the early portion of the season. As miserable as it made him and us, in 2019, it kind of bodes well for readiness in 2020. We expect Stephon to be ready to go. We are excited to have him and his talents back."

On the situation at nose tackle and if there is another guy out there like Casey Hampton:
"I like the collection of guys we have who are capable of vying for the position. Dan McCullers has been the backup at the position for a number of years. We drafted a young man, (Carlos) Davis out of Nebraska, who has some talent in that area. Tyson Alualu is a veteran guy who is position flexible, so he is capable in that area.

"That position won't be manned in the way Casey Hampton manned it years ago. As a matter of fact, today's game doesn't require that you man it in that way. It was a heck of a lot more base defense back when Casey played. Guys like him were really significant. The amount of running the football in the league at that time and more important the style of running, the double teams and so forth. It made guys like Casey not only necessary, but significant. That guy was a perennial Pro Bowler for us and really a catalyst for a great defense. I just think it's made up a little differently these days. There is probably more of a premium on those who rush the passer. As much as we love Hamp, we know that pass rushing was not his forte."

Source: Steelers.com