Power Moves: Venture for America added 3 startup pros to its Pittsburgh advisory board

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us: pittsburgh@technical.ly.

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Meet Venture for America’s new Pittsburgh advisory board members

Venture for America is a nonprofit that pairs entrepreneurial college grads with startup employment via a two-year fellowship program. In fall 2022, the program accepted 173 fellows from across the country, including four Pittsburgh organizations — Conserv, Civic Champs, Expii and Innovation Works — hosting five cohort members.

The org just announced more local newness in the form of additions to its Pittsburgh regional advisory board: Frost Brown Todd Associate Derrick Maultsby, Jr., InnovatePGH Ecosystem Director Jason Griess, and LifeX Director of Ecosystem Development Kelly Collier.

Per the nonprofit, the purpose of a regional advisory board is to advance Venture for America’s mission at a local level, with direction from Megan Butler, the org’s Pittsburgh city director. These new board members’ respective backgrounds in DEI work and startup innovation equip them to support the organization’s work and create an inclusive future for the next generation of entrepreneurs in the city.

“I believe the mission of the organization can be a major piece of what helps push Pittsburgh forward in terms of diversity within the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs,” Maultsby said in a statement. “I’m excited to offer insights and expertise that will not only help Venture For America grow, but Pittsburgh as well.”

Abridge AI’s Amazon hire

Abridge AI, a Downtown Pittsburgh-based AI medical transcription startup, brought on its first ever chief scientific officer: Zachary Lipton.

Lipton was previously an assistant professor of machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University and as a research scientist at Amazon AI. Now that he’s at Abridge AI, an announcement post said, the company’s leaders hope that Lipton’s experience and dedication to ethics will help it identify new applications for machine learning and improve provider-patient relationships.

Lipton said he’s thrilled to be joining the company at a time when AI technology is becoming increasingly accessible.

“While ChatGPT has recently garnered a new level of mainstream attention, generative NLP technology has long driven everyday technologies, like modern machine translation systems, and has been used by hospitals for years thanks to innovators like Abridge,” Lipton said in a statement. “After years of working with this team on an advisory level, I’m honored to join the company as it sits on the cusp of a breakthrough moment in shaping how health systems will leverage AI to improve healthcare outcomes and experiences.”

Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy teacher’s STEM Research Grant

This week, the national Society for Science announced the 52 teachers who’d receive awards through its STEM Research Grants program, giving these educators additional resources to support their students in underrepresented communities. Among the recipients was Edwina Kinchington, a longtime teacher at Oakland’s Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy.

Kinchington has a background in cancer research and, according to the Society for Science, she believes in a hands-on approach to teaching science. With that in mind, she plans to use the award to purchase a UV spectrophotometer to enable students to quantitate DNA.

“This will help take student projects into the 21st century because our genome knowledge for these students will drive prevention and health care,” Kinchington said in a statement.

More Power Moves

• Marinus Analytics, a North Side-based AI firm that helps law enforcement locate survivors of human trafficking through technology, established an office in London, England and chose Ian Kearns to serve as the company’s UK and Europe director.
• Ecotone Renewables, a food and agriculture systems accessibility startup, is participating in the latest StartOut and JPMorgan-led Growth Lab accelerator cohort designed to assist LGBTQ entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
• Gridwise and The Bosch Group, respectively a Strip District-based mobile app platform and a Germany-based engineering technology firm with Pittsburgh ties, are entering into a partnership to create smart dashcams to enhance driver safety.

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.