Next Generation Council

Mission

Emerging leaders thinking critically and acting collaboratively with regional stakeholders to attract, retain, and elevate a racial and generational diversity of talent in the Pittsburgh region.

Vision

To collectively make the Pittsburgh region inclusive, welcoming, and thriving for all.

The Next Generation Council was created to engage millennial leaders in the retention work happening in the Pittsburgh region, with the goal of gaining better insight into what young professionals think about the region and what impacts their desire and ability to stay in the region. As the millennial generation is diverse and highly mobile, their decision to stay in or leave our region will make a significant impact on our population growth and economic vitality over the next 20 years. The Next Generation Council is an important voice for the future of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Council Members

Itha Cao

Policy Analyst

Office of Mayor William Peduto, Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment

I am a policy analyst, conducting research and analysis of best practices for the City of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment, an executive branch within the Mayor’s Office.  The Bureau creates key strategies and services to build our city’s low and moderate-income neighborhoods from the ground up by addressing issues surrounding affordable and mixed income housing, education and youth development, immigrant, veteran, LGBTQIA+ and challenged populations, nonprofit and faith-based community initiatives, small business development, economic opportunity, and equity and inclusion.

As an Asian American, it is rare to see people who look like me in leadership positions, and too often this leads to the exclusion of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) voice in conversations around racial inclusion.  I joined the Vibrant Pittsburgh Next Generation Council to advocate for all minorities, as well as the large population of students, young professionals, and refugees who are a benefit to this growing city.

I moved to Pittsburgh for my Master's program at Pitt 4 years ago.  I love that the Pittsburgh region has visibly progressed in those few years- from bike lanes to start-ups, and that residents here are so willing to connect with each other.

Steven Bates

Programmer

What's This, Inc.

We know how important content is for SEO. It’s what the search engines “see” and use to determine web page rank. While B2B website owners understand this, many are making the mistake of having a narrow focus to SEO content creation and only targeting prospects that are at the bottom of the sales funnel.

Lee Averbeck

Senior Designer

LA Inc.

We know how important content is for SEO. It’s what the search engines “see” and use to determine web page rank. While B2B website owners understand this, many are making the mistake of having a narrow focus to SEO content creation and only targeting prospects that are at the bottom of the sales funnel.

David Borland

President

Scope Interactive

This is the bio...We know how important content is for SEO. It’s what the search engines “see” and use to determine web page rank. While B2B website owners understand this, many are making the mistake of having a narrow focus to SEO content creation and only targeting prospects that are at the bottom of the sales funnel.