These 49 pros made Leadership Pittsburgh’s 2023-2024 cohort of emerging leaders

Leadership Pittsburgh has selected 49 “emerging leaders” for its 2023-2024 Leadership Development Initiative cohort.

This marks the professional development program’s 31st cohort, which will offer participants a crash course in understanding the Pittsburgh region’s businesses and nonprofits ecosystem. The program includes a focus on civic engagement while seeking to encourage these young professionals to stay in the Steel City.

“Folks who apply to this program and get selected tend to be the rising stars of their companies and organizations,” Leadership Pittsburgh’s former president and CEO, Aradhna Malhotra Oliphant, told Technical.ly in 2021. “These are the young people that companies and organizations want to invest in to continue to grow.”

Similar to last year, the new cohort members come from the worlds of economic development, tech, higher education, healthcare, a sports organization or two, and more. Leadership Pittsburgh’s leadership is looking forward to guiding them in their journey to make a difference in the city.

“This cohort represents a diverse, bright, and dynamic group of emerging leaders who are poised to create significant impact in their organizations and communities,” Jenn Beer, who joined as president and CEO of Leadership Pittsburgh in 2022, said in a written statement. “We look forward to fostering their talent and creating opportunities for them to grow as effective and engaged leaders, which in turn supports our region’s leadership infrastructure and pipeline.”

Meet the 2023-2024 cohort here:

• Rufa Akhmedli, Highmark Health
• Eric Anthony, Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP
• Kristen Bayley, Carnegie Mellon University
• Samantha Beatty, K&L Gates LLP
• Mike Brady, Veterans Leadership Program
• Alex Clark, Eaton Corporation
• Rachel Cohen, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Laurel Cooper, Deloitte
• Joseph Costa, ACTION-Housing Inc.
• Brent DeBona, Crothall Healthcare
• Lindsay Dill, Allegheny Land Trust
• Jarah Doosé, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
• Brant Duda, Strategy Design Partners
• Reginald Eiland, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
• Allison Evans, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
• Cody Gill, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
• Nick Goodfellow, University of Pittsburgh
• Ashley Head, Peoples Natural Gas
• Al Hogan, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Karl Hummel, PNC Bank
• Gregory Huth, Peoples Natural Gas
• Taleesha Johnson, Red House Communications
• Elizabeth MacDougall, MacDougall Financial Counseling
• Cornelius Martin, Center of Life
• Julia Millman, Koppers Inc.
• Jessica Monahan, The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh
• Maria Montaro, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
• Kara Morse, Highmark Health
• Milena Novotny, Bayer Corporation
• Michelle Olszewski, S&B USA
• Tess Palmer, Auberle
• Samantha Paolo, Family House
• Jennifer Papich, Bayer Corporation
• Sierra Parm, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Pittsburgh Chapter
• Joelen Pastva, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
• Melissa Picard, FedEx Ground
• Sarah Pistella, McElhattan Foundation
• John Paul Regan, Saul Ewing LLP
• Matthew Rendulic, University of Pittsburgh
• Meagan Roberts, Heritage Wealth Advisors
• Alex Royal, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
• Dan Ruef, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute
• Stephen Shepard, Highmark Health
• Erin Tirpak, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Allen Treadway, Essential Utilities
• Claire Van de Castle, The Health Plan
• Trey Whitney Randall, BNY Mellon
• Emma Yourd, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute
• Janet Zayas, PNC Bank

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.