When Pittsburgh community-based organizations face challenges, they turn to the next generation of business leaders for help developing and implementing new and novel solutions. Since the summer of 2020, the Pitt Business Bridge Program has paired 200 graduate students with over 40 regional organizations.
This year, 29 graduate students worked with seven local organizations. These clients included Pittsburgh Tomorrow, The National Aviary, Fort Ligonier Days, The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania, The Pitt News, The Homewood Community Engagement Center, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
The students turned textbook theories into eight weeks of real-world problem-solving. The topics varied based on the clients’ needs, yet they all shared the goal of helping the organization better serve the community. The organizations received assistance this year on challenges such as evaluating the value of individual vs. corporate membership, how to grow visitor attendance in the 18-34 demographics at a local institution, and how to maximize space allocation with community partners.
MBA student Jordyn White (SPIA ’27G) worked with the Homewood Community Engagement Center (CEC) on an operational challenge. After analyzing usage and space allocation, the team developed a prototype to streamline the process of scheduling space at the center, enabling better data collection for enhancing community-impact reporting.
Feedback Paints Positive Picture
“It was rewarding to see the vision the CEC had for the future and help turn that vision into something tangible,” says White. “Being able to produce a product that was not only satisfying to the client but also truly implementable was amazing. I enjoyed knowing that our work could help move their vision forward and strengthen how it approaches community engagement.”
Yasmeen Stubblefield (MBA ’27), also worked with the Homewood CEC. She says the experience, “let me put what I’ve been learning into practice. It strengthened my problem-solving, teamwork, communication, research, and presentation skills while also giving me experience developing recommendations based on stakeholder needs and data.”
Looking back at her Bridge Program project with Pittsburgh Tomorrow, Morgan Clark (MS ’27) emphasized how, “the project enhanced my classroom learning with hands-on experience. The opportunity to network and contribute to a real-world problem were great resume builders.”
In addition, Clark says, “as a part-time student working full-time, the Bridge Program offered the flexibility I needed to pursue an experiential learning opportunity while balancing my other responsibilities.”
Throughout the eight-week engagements, each team was mentored by an executive coach, who provided timely feedback on their client’s engagement and progress on the key project deliverable. Coaches included:
- Jen DeBrincat – Head of Finance and Business Operations – Four Growers, Inc.
- Eric Fiedler – Co-Founder, Chairman – AJINGA and Executive in Residence
- Theresa Gallick – Principal – T Gallick Consulting and Executive in Residence
- Bud Kahn – Managing Principal – WMS Wealth Planners
- Bill Slivka – Executive in Residence
- Linda Topoleski – Principal – Linda Topoleski Communications Consulting LLC
Clients expressed their overall satisfaction in working with the students as well as the quality of the final deliverable. In final surveys, all clients who responded stated that they already have or will incorporate team final recommendations.
Kevin Smith, general manager of the Pitt News, gave positive feedback on the team of students who were assigned to their project.
“The students were smart, prepared and tremendous to work with. They broke down all the interviews, data and budgets and came up with several excellent ideas that will be of value to our future success,” says Smith. “They provided several workable ideas that will help The Pitt News in the future.”
Interested in Learning More?
Here is the complete summary of the 2026 program as well as previous projects.
The program aligns with the Pitt Business 2030 Strategic Roadmap, leveraging our research and education capabilities to drive community engagement in social responsibility and sustainability. It is facilitated by cooperation between the Office of Integrated Learning, the Office of Strategic Partnerships, and the Office of Career Development and Employer Engagement.
If you would like to support the Bridge Program, please contact the Office of Integrated Learning.