events

November 17 2011 | New Hazlett Theater | 6.30p.m.

Can algebra be an organizing principal for a civil rights movement?  Robert Parris Moses thinks so!   As the founder of the Alegbra Project, a revolutionary educational tool, Dr. Moses will show how mathematics can be used as an organizing tool to guarantee quality public school education for all students. As a result of his efforts, Dr. Moses received the Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation for making math instruction available to children of all backgrounds.

Carey Harris, Executive Director of A+ Schools, an independent advocate for improvement in public education, will highlight local efforts and trends to provide opportunities to public school students and will also moderate the discussion, which we’ll kick off with some questions from Pittsburgh Public School students.

Be there or be square.

Missed this event? Catch the full video here or the short version here.

October 18 2011 | New Hazlett Theater | 6.30p.m.

Pittsburgh is less diverse than 98 out of 100 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, according to the 2010 census …”whiter even than the Amish country around Lancaster, the Mormon population center of Salt Lake City, Midwest agrarian capitals such as Des Moines, Iowa, and far more isolated places like Boise, Idaho,” says Gary Rotstein of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “How does a region built on immigration, albeit from previous centuries, come to have in 2011 such a small share of people of color?”

On October 18, cityLIVE! and Vibrant Pittsburgh will host a conversation between candidates D. Raja, Rich Fitzgerald and you, the audience, on the status of foreign born talent and diversity in the region. Economic development is at the heart of this discussion.  For instance, 25% of U.S. business owners in the technology and engineering sector are foreign born, as are the owners of 24% of patent applications filed.  Moderated by Melanie Harrington, CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh, we will hear how our future leaders plan to tackle these issues in their future role as Allegheny County Executive.

This is an important conversation.  Be there, or be really square.

Missed this event? Catch the full video here or the short version here.

June 13 2011 | New Hazlett Theater | 6.30p.m.

Have you ever thought you’d like to ride your bike to work, but it seems too dangerous?   Do you wonder what life would be like if your children could walk to school, and you wouldn’t have to drive them?  Do you admire cities like New York, with its miles of city bike lanes, or Paris, with its 20,000 bikes to rent?  Do you hate the fact that you need to drive your bike to a good trail?  Would you like to live in a city that is built for people, not cars?

On June 13, Gil Peñalosa will show us how!  Mr. Peñalosa is the executive director of 8-80 Cities, and a founder of the famous Bogotá, Colombia Ciclovia event.  He is an internationally renowned livable city expert dedicated to the transformation of cities into places where people can walk, bike, access public transit and visit vibrant parks and public places.   What does 8-80 Cities stand for?  Cities which are accessible to everyone, from 8 to 80 years old.

We’ll have some local experts on hand to answer any questions you have that are particular to Pittsburgh. They include Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsurgh; Robert Hampshire, assistant professor of Operations Research and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University;Lynn Heckman, assistant director of Transportation Initiatives, Allegheny County Economic Development; Patrick Roberts, principal transportation planner for the City of Pittsburgh, and Darija Wiswell with Allegheny County’s Health Department.

Missed this event? Catch the full video here or the short version here.

May 25 2011 | New Hazlett Theater | 6.30p.m.

Pittsburgh’s public school system is changing rapidly.  Over the past few years the system has downsized and collaborations have emerged.  Reform efforts are underway that focus on the challenges in providing an equitable education for all students. Discussions are heated and sometimes polarized and problems persist.  Do all students have equal access to educational opportunities?  Is the Pittsburgh Promise reaching the students who need it most?  Are efforts to reduce the achievement gap working?

At our May 25 cityLIVE!, our panelists will address these issues and other goals for equitable education in the Pittsburgh Public School system.   Our panelists will include Robert Parris Moses who founded the Algebra Project, which uses mathematics as an organizing tool to guarantee quality public school education for all students.  In 2000, Dr. Moses received the Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation for his efforts to make math instruction available to children of all backgrounds.   Carey Harris is the Executive Director of A+ Schools, an independent advocate for improvement in public education, and Ralph Bangs is Associate Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems in the School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh.   The event will be moderated by Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the POISE Foundation, which funds organisations that provide services to Pittsburgh’s African American community.

26 April 2011 | New Hazlett Theater | 6:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh researchers have long attracted the national and international spotlight. We know the stories of Dr. Jonas Salk who created a polio vaccine and Dr. Thomas Starzl who performed the world’s first successful liver transplant in 1967. Our April 26 cityLIVE! is telling the stories of other medical innovators.

Our panelists include Hugh Herr, who heads the Biomechatronics research group at the MIT Media Lab, is a Heinz Award recipient who turned his passion for mountain climbing into a drive to create the world’s most advanced walking devices for people who, like himself, have lost limbs; Alan J. Russell focuses on developing therapies at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh that reestablish tissue and organ function impaired by disease, trauma or genetics; and orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright who is the founding director of the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes (PRIMA) at UPMC, a program dedicated to maximizing performance and minimizing injury in elite athletes and recreational exercisers over 40.

Our moderator, Dr. Maria Simbra, is an Emmy award-winning medical journalist for KDKA-TV.

Want a preview?  Read about Hugh here, or see Alan here.  But really, show your love and show up!

Missed this event? Catch the full video here or the short version here.