'CEO in Classroom' Schools Local Leaders on Educating for Workforce Development

“CEOs in the Classroom” at City Charter High School. From left to right: Bart Rocco, a fellow at the Grable Foundation and former superintendent at Elizabeth Forward; student Marlon Thompson, student Imarii Agurs, student Marci Mazza-Fredley, University of Pittsburgh Chief Enrollment Officer Marc Harding, student Ryan Fisher, Key Bank Market President Todd Moules, Karen Wolk Feinstein, and Allegheny Housing Rehabilitation Corp. President Lara Washington.

As part of the Foundation's longstanding commitment to educating and preparing the region's workforce, JHF President and CEO Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD, went back to school on March 12. She was among the 30 Pittsburgh-area leaders enrolled in "CEO in the Classroom," an initiative of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development with support from the Grable Foundation.

The CEOs and C-suite leaders shadowed students at seven schools to experience the reality of education today — what and how students are learning, what resources they have and need, and how they are being prepared for the future of work. Dr. Feinstein spent the day at City Charter High School, located Downtown. 

City Charter High was a natural partner: Dara Ware Allen, PhD, the school's principal and CEO, is a board member of Health Careers Futures (HCF), the JHF operating arm founded in 2003 to reimagine the healthcare workforce.

"It was a true privilege to host executives from the region, some of whom are known nationally like Dr. Feinstein," said Dr. Allen. "It was especially gratifying for me to have Dr. Feinstein matched with City High. Her student shadow, Marci, is a young activist in the making with an interest in science and women's healthcare justice issues. It was heartwarming to see how well they connected."

In early April, the participating executives will meet to consider how the regional business community can work with educators to prepare a competitive regional workforce.