< Previousfor weekly events , school closings , and delays . V isit W est A llegheny O nline : www . westasd . org B OArd Of s chOOl d irectOrs A dministrAtiOn Mr. Robert Ostrander, President Mrs. Tracy Pustover, Vice-President Mr. George Bartha Mr. Joel Colinear Mr. Edward Faux Mr. Kevin Hancock Mrs. Tracy Kosis Mrs. Debbie Mirich Mr. Mark Rosen Dr. Jerri Lynn Lippert, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Shattuck, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Ms. Tammy Adams, Assistant to the Superintendent for Special Education and Student Services Dr. Shana Nelson, Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Learning Mr. George Safin, Business Manager Dr. Frank Hernandez, High School Principal Mrs. Katharine Roche, High School Academic Principal Dr. Cheryl McHone, High School Assistant Principal Mr. David McBain, Director of Athletics/ Administrative Associate Mrs. Patricia Nolan, Middle School Principal Ms. Megan Huchko, Middle School Assistant Principal Dr. Erin Dierker, Donaldson Elementary Principal Mrs. Melissa Wagner, McKee Elementary Principal Mrs. Rachel Gray, Wilson Elementary Principal Mrs. Toni Baldanzi, Supervisor of Ancillary Programs Mr. Kenneth Fibbi, Director of Facilities and Operations Mrs. Karen Ruhl, Community Relations Coordinator W est A llegheny s chOOl d istrict All material has been prepared, written or edited by Karen Ruhl, School Community Relations Coordinator, West Allegheny School District (724) 695-5274 West Allegheny is excited to launch an Interscholastic Unified Bocce Program for students with and without disabilities after being selected by the Special Olympics Interscholastic Unified Sports to start a high school program for the 2020-2021 school year. Practices are already underway and have drawn the attention and participation of several students and staff members. The first-ever West Allegheny bocce competition is, at the time of this writing, scheduled to be held at home February 10 against Mt. Lebanon. The remainder of the season will consist of three additional competitions: February 18 at Montour, March 3 at home against Sto-Rox, and March 10 at South Park. Both division championships and a county championship are to be scheduled for mid-March. Both students and staff get in on the bocce excitement as the team kicks off its first practice. The Empowering Female Voices group at the high school provides a unique opportunity for West Allegheny students to engage virtually with girls nationwide for a series of weekly sessions designed and facilitated by instructors from the Close Up Foundation. Students participate in sessions on political values, learn and deliberate about critical policy issues shaping the nation, and consider ways to activate members of their communities to take action on the issues that matter most to them. Student participants are: Audra Cook, Reese Bielecki, Nadia Pollinger, Amanda Schoppe, Mandy Mahen, Kiely Buglak, Megan Russo, Averi Zdinak, Ella Sekelik, Eleni Fitsioris, Emily Vavrek, Clara Santos, Sara Finnell, Ava Pustover and MacKenzie Heidenreich. The high school social studies department continues to supplement its curriculum with outside opportunities during the pandemic. Bocce takes off in first year of program Female voices heard across the country 30 • Allegheny West Magazine • February/March 2021February/March 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 3132 • Allegheny West Magazine • February/March 2021 Our area’s women in leadership By Jill Bordo and Doug Hughey The aviation industry experienced considerable upheaval in 2020 as air travel ground to a near halt during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. At the height of the shutdown in late March and early April, traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport declined from an average of 15,000 daily departing passengers to around 350. Since then, traffic has rebounded to about half of what it normally is. Fortunately, operations there have been overseen since 2015 by Christina Cassotis. The straightforward CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority has been forging a new future for the region’s airport since the moment she accepted the position. Cassotis’ leadership style and strategy jolted airport and county officials out of an identity crisis as the region was struggling to come to grips with the departure of the US Airways hub. That same no-nonsense philosophy allowed Cassotis to focus on new initiatives and positive outcomes for the airport during COVID-19. As fewer people traveled in 2020, but more supplies were needed than ever, the airport capitalized on its size and efficient workforce to expand cargo service. Global cargo companies like Qatar Airways Cargo have started service at Pittsburgh International Airport because of available capacity and the ability to unload shipments and send them on their way in hours rather than the days it takes at larger airports in cities such as New York and Chicago. The airport also made new use of space during the pandemic by allowing acres of empty parking lots to be set up as distribution centers for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Cassotis mentioned that Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin also served as a large pet food distribution site. Likely the most significant and long-term silver lining of 2020, however, is the extra time the crisis has provided to incorporate new public health and safety measures into the airport’s Terminal Modernization Program. As a result, Cassotis believes that Pittsburgh International Airport will be the first major airport in the world to emerge from the pandemic with public health features designed in response to the pandemic. Those features, while still in design, could include the ability to more safely socially distance at checkpoints and other high-touch areas. It also includes germ-killing ultraviolet technology and a smart facility that incorporates the latest technology to alert cleaners when areas need attention. The airport already has UV autonomous robot floor scrubbers and a high-tech handwashing station as part of its Safe Travels program. It was the first airport in the nation to roll out those measures. Though the billion-dollar modernization plan was stalled last year, the design phase is now nearly complete and Cassotis is hopeful that ground will be broken in 2021. The former aviation consultant is confident that, in a six-year period, she and her team have impacted the way the world sees Pittsburgh by positioning the airport as a global logistics center in a modern and forward-thinking economy. For example, the airport is now also home to the additive manufacturing production center Neighborhood 91. Cassotis believes that the profiles of both the airport and Pittsburgh in general will only continue to rise in the future. She remarked that one of her proudest accomplishments in her current role has been cultivating the airport’s impact on the region’s ability to do what it could with the assets it had. Much like the city, Pittsburgh International Airport has reinvented itself. Though originally hesitant to consider the CEO position because of preconceived As diversity continues to be a hot topic in the American workforce, female leadership is on the rise. According to the State of Women- Owned Business Report, there has been a 114% increase in this group between 1997 and 2017. A 2019 Forbes Magazine study found that women make up 25 percent of C-level executives at the top 1,000 U.S. companies (by revenue), up 2% from the previous year. Additionally, more than half of the Forbes 50 most influential CMOs of 2018 were female. Pittsburgh is no exception to this trend. Though most recent census statistics are not yet available, the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau report showed 30,671 of a total 96,501 businesses in Allegheny County were owned by women. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story reported that, in 2019, minority and women-owned businesses accounted for $23 million in approved contracts in Allegheny County. This feature provides a snapshot of a handful of female leaders making a difference in the airport corridor. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list. Such a section would be much too long for this publication. Rather, this section highlights a handful of outstanding women overseeing companies and organizations varying in size and structure. How each has also responded to COVID-19 is important, as it says much about their leadership and resiliency - as well as the character of those working under them - at this challenging time. A mention of the founder of this publication is also in order. Pat Jennette started Allegheny West Magazine in 1999 as an offshoot of her marketing and public relations consulting business, Jennette Communications. The magazine was the first of its kind in the area and was well-received by the community. Jennette expanded the publication to three editions and ran it until 2014, when ownership transitioned to Jennette’s assistant editor, Doug Hughey, who is proud to carry on the work she started. A spotlight on female leaders in the airport corridor Christina Cassotis CEO, Allegheny County Airport AuthorityFebruary/March 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 33 impressions of Pittsburgh, Cassotis said she “quickly became more aware of the attributes of the area” and of how engaged those involved with the airport were in creating a new future for it. “I was recruited and I’m glad I was,” Cassotis said in her matter- of-fact way. When asked about being a female in such a visible leadership role, Cassotis pointed out that, nationally, there are roughly 20 female CEOs in the airport industry. That’s an unusually high number when compared to other industries. “There is a tremendous responsibility for all of us who have gotten into a position where we can affect the perception of diverse leadership,” said Cassotis. Since taking the leadership reins of the West Allegheny School District more than six years ago, Dr. Jerri Lynn Lippert has implemented her self-proclaimed “fierce” style to raise the academic bar in the school system. Hired by the school board to become superintendent at the start of the 2014 school year, Lippert brought with her the skills and philosophies she had honed in much larger and more urban school settings. Referring to the West Allegheny board’s mission of seeking a leader who would transform the district with an aggressive academic plan, Lippert said “I found them and they found me. I was in the right place at the right time.” Beginning in 2002, Lippert’s trajectory in the Pittsburgh Public Schools system propelled her from assistant principal at both a high school and subsequently a middle school to the position of principal at the latter. In 2006, she advanced to executive director of curriculum instruction and professional development until taking over as chief academic officer of the Pittsburgh Public Schools system in 2009. Though the 2020 pandemic created an immense challenge for her as a superintendent, Lippert maintains that it has not been the greatest hurdle in her career. Supervising all of the academic programs and managing reform initiatives for 28,000 students in 65 to 80 city schools was actually more daunting, she says. Lippert used the same “cross-functionality” method she embraced in the Pittsburgh school system to pull all members of the West Allegheny team together to prepare for a return to fall classes. An urban school system and the coronavirus situation both demanded “urgency,” said Lippert. West Allegheny was one of only a few area schools to return to a traditional five-day class schedule in August while also providing options for virtual learning. Lippert and a designated team of staff members spent tireless hours in the spring and summer trying to ensure that every employee and building in the district was as prepared as possible for COVID-19 safety measures. “Kids have a right to education,” stated Lippert, adding “if we value the five-day model, we have to show responsibility to the community.” According to Lippert, West Allegheny can most effectively serve the airport corridor as well as the county by producing high- quality graduates. “Successful students attract people to the area,” she stated. A strong advocate of systems, Lippert doesn’t feel the need for bells, whistles, and new things to make a school district academically dominant. If all of the correct systems are in place, she commented, the staff should be able to ensure that every student is connected to one of those critical pathways. As was the board’s intent, Lippert has accelerated the academic curriculum at West Allegheny significantly. At the high school level particularly, over 20 advanced placement courses allow students to take college-level classes. Lippert says she is most proud of the addition of so many early college classes at West Allegheny through partnerships with the Community College of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Technical College. She stated that, by graduation, students are able to have completed one to two years of college credits earning college certificates and associate degrees in programs such as nursing, cyber security, and multimedia game simulation. There are 21 teachers at the high school who are also certified as CCAC adjunct professors. The superintendent says she has never personally experienced gender discrimination, either professionally or financially. She believes that there are far more females in leadership positions in the U.S. school system than there were 20 years ago. Dr. Jerri Lynn Lippert Superintendent, West Allegheny School District Visit our website to read more profiles of women in leadership throughout the airport corridor. www.awmagazine.com34 • Allegheny West Magazine • February/March 2021 Rochelle Stachel’s story of success started in the basement of her home in Robinson Township, after many years of working in a professional environment and several career changes. Her career working in engineering, IT/software development and accounting provided the framework, but the confidence to start her own business was ignited while on a plane during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The experience provided an opportunity for some deep soul searching, and instilled a desire to build a legacy for her two daughters. Stachel believes her entrepreneurial spirit grew during her childhood, while watching her parents struggle to raise five daughters on her father’s military salary. She learned to work hard, improvise, use creativity and, above all else, develop independence from an early age. With no money to pay for college, she worked various part-time and full-time jobs to pay her way through and became the first person in her family to earn a college degree. A few years before her founding of HRV Conformance Verification Associates (HRV), Stachel was helping her father start a placement agency for pilots who needed to build their flight hours or wanted to work beyond the mandatory age limitations. He had made several attempts at startups throughout his life and she remembers his heightened enthusiasm for this venture. Unfortunately, he passed away before the business could gain traction. While Stachel believes her personal experiences gave her the drive to start a business, she attributes her success to several mentors - Bill Marriotti, Dick Fitzgerald, Richard Smith and Joe Beck - her employees and, most importantly, her partner, Bob Stachel. Located in Moon Township, HRV is a construction management and materials and construction inspection firm. The company proudly serves both public and private industry across the U.S. and several countries, including China, Korea and, more recently, Italy. The industries HRV serves include transportation, rail/transit, water/wastewater, commercial, oil and gas, and power. Though some might consider the company “small” compared to most of its competitors, it employs upwards of 200 people during larger public/private partnership (P3) or design-build projects. There probably isn’t a bridge in Pittsburgh that HRV hasn’t inspected at the point of fabrication or in the field. HRV even inspected the Liberty Bridge after it sustained a fire several years ago. The company has also worked on several premiere local area projects, including the Southern Beltway, and was selected with various teams to work on the Terminal Modernization Project at Pittsburgh International Airport. Previously, Rochelle’s professional career involved managing multi-million-dollar software development and business process outsourcing projects for Deloitte Consulting. She also developed transactional software and conducted technical training and demonstration sessions for Mellon Bank. During her time with Union Electric Steel corporation, she performed engineering and process analyses for monitoring. Prior to that position, she performed financial and cost accounting for the chemical company W.R. Grace. Stachel has been named a Smart Business Pacesetter for outstanding business innovation and community leadership. She was also awarded the Pittsburgh Business Times’ Business Women First Award, which honors top women executives in Pittsburgh. Ernst & Young awarded her its Entrepreneur of the Year® award for the construction industry in the western Pennsylvania/West Virginia region. The honor recognizes Rochelle’s innovation and new-market expansion. In addition to the previous honors mentioned, Pittsburgh Business Times also awarded Rochelle its Diamond Award, which honors Pittsburgh’s top leaders in emerging and established companies, and has named HRV among Pittsburgh’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies several times. Though her professional accomplishments are well recognized, Rochelle’s passion for and contributions to the community have established her reputation as a serving leader. Recently, she was named to Robert Morris University’s Board of Trustees. She also serves as an active member of the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, for which she serves as Executive Committee/Military Liaison, co-chair for the Military Relations Committee, and is a member of the Honorary Commanders. As Chair of Southwestern PA ESGR (Employer Support for the Guard and Reserves), Rochelle promotes veterans’ employment, provides mediation, and helps to educate employers on the laws and regulations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. When asked about how she sees the state of women in leadership positions, she says, “There’s more women running Fortune 500 companies today than any other time in history. You see the push to increase diversity on corporate boards and nonprofit boards, but there is still a great deal we as women can do to help build on the trend.” She says she’s also encouraged by the high percentages of female entrepreneurs. “Opportunities for women are moving in the right direction, and women are aggressively seeking those leadership positions. Entrepreneurship is a great way to fast-track into a leadership role,” she says. Rochelle also says she’d like to see more women pursuing engineering and other technical careers. Rochelle Stachel CEO and Founder, HRV ConsultingFebruary/March 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 35 Pittsburgh Technical College has experienced significant change over the past few years, and the recently hired president and CEO of the college is excited to be leading during this period of transformation. Alicia Harvey-Smith, Ph.D. became the fourth president of PTC in July of 2019. She brings with her nearly 30 years of academic leadership. Most recently, she was the executive vice chancellor of a 99,000-student college in Houston, one of the largest school systems in the country. Over the past three years, PTC has modified its name from the previous Pittsburgh Technical Institute, switched its status from for-profit to nonprofit, achieved Middle States accreditation status and implemented a more ambitious strategic plan. The nonprofit designation allows PTC to receive grants that contribute to expanded offerings for students, said Harvey-Smith, adding that the status is also more beneficial to local communities. Harvey-Smith is grateful for the rare opportunity to rebuild and re-establish PTC in the minds of airport area community members. Though she believes in the description of the college as “the best kept secret” in the area, her intention is to advance the profile of the institution as a household name. One of Harvey-Smith’s main goals is to position PTC locally and regionally as a pipeline for middle skills jobs, thousands of which go unfilled each year. Harvey-Smith touts the consistently high 95% in-field placement rate for degree-seeking students who participate in onsite internships, clinical rotations, or employer partnerships in the quarter before they graduate. PTC offers nine academic schools, including a school of the trades, and awards certificates and both associate and bachelor’s degrees in more than 30 programs. Though the school has provided online learning for years, Harvey-Smith believes PTC was one of the first colleges in the country to go remote early in 2020. The CEO reported that PTC had a COVID-19 task force in place within the first two weeks of last January and was prepared for 100% remote learning by the time of the national shutdown. Following a comprehensive plan, students phased back to in- person classes with roughly 500 students on campus by July. Harvey-Smith speaks not only of advancing the airport corridor through PTC talent, but of “regrowing the Commonwealth.” “Not only through thoughtful leadership, but through the applied and technical training needed in multiple STEM and trade related fields, PTC is being positioned as a go-to institution for jobs of the future,” she stated. Originally from the Baltimore area, Harvey-Smith was excited to come to this region of the country and has been “pleased with how supportive and welcoming the people of Pittsburgh have been.” The PTC leader was educated predominantly at Maryland schools, including Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland - College Park. She also received training for the college presidency from the Harvard University School of Education. She is a graduate of Western High School, which was founded in 1844, and is the oldest public all-girls college preparatory school remaining in the U.S. Harvey-Smith believes that potential challenges for women in leadership roles, particularly African American women, are being underestimated and misunderstood as emotional or angry when conveying a message with passion. Women in executive roles are often the only, or among a few, women at the table for high profile meetings and decisions, stated Harvey- Smith. She added that such women should use every opportunity to be authentic rather than conformist, and should be proud of the fact that women excel at soft skills such as empathy and effective communication. Alicia Harvey-Smith, Ph.D. President, Pittsburgh Technical College36 • Allegheny West Magazine • February/March 2021 Michelle Kreutzer Executive Director, Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce Deb Gray worked for Sears for 33 years before retiring from the company in 2005. At the time, she was overseeing construction and remodeling work at various stores around the country. In 2007, she went to work for herself when she purchased an Express Employment staffing franchise. She now operates two area offices - one in Robinson Township and a second in Monaca - and has 11 employees. Over the years, she’s grown from assisting about 12 businesses per year to approximately 60. About 160 associates in the airport corridor receive paychecks each week thanks to positions they were placed in by Gray’s offices. Many of those associates will transition to full-time positions in a range of sectors and settings, from blue collar to white collar jobs. This past year has been a real rollercoaster for the job market, which started strong and then plummeted mid-2020 due to COVID-19. Gray says her office has since returned to pre- pandemic levels, but that it has come with its own set of challenges. She says many workers are under-employed and that many others have needed to reinvent themselves. She characterizes this time as one in which people are increasingly having to “learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” At the same time, she sees it as vital that companies work with employees to manage the difficulties they’re facing. Among the biggest challenges she sees facing families in general, and not just women, is the lack of government- subsidized childcare in the U.S. “I think that we’ve accepted that change is needed to support families, but we haven’t fully put the solutions into place to support all levels of the workforce,” she says. A big part of Gray’s approach involves outreach. She requires each of her staff members to participate in local organizations and Gray herself currently serves on a number of area boards. She is the treasurer of the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce and hosts regular educational sessions for members. She also sits on boards for Penn State Business, Management and Deb Gray Owner, Express Employment Professionals Pittsburgh West PHOTO BY CLARE ASCANI PHOTOGRAPHY Michelle Kreutzer came to the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce after working for a publishing company that served both that chamber and others with print products. Several sales positions preceded that job, as well as a resume writing business venture that Kreutzer launched right after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2000, Kreutzer took a job as the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce’s membership director and, in 2017, she was promoted to her current role as the chamber’s executive director. During her tenure, the chamber’s membership has swelled to 900 strong. Kreutzer has received a number of awards for her work with the chamber, including several sales awards. In 2017, the American Association of Chamber Executives awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Award. Her greatest achievement, though, may very well have been keeping the organization together following the sudden death in 2012 of Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce president Sally Haas. “Having to notify the staff and board of her passing was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do,” says Kreutzer. “While dealing with the terrible loss of a mentor and good friend, I still had to make sure the chamber continued to serve the needs of our members. In addition, it was important that I instilled the confidence in our staff that things would be okay.” In recent months, Kreutzer and current chamber president Chris Heck have been navigating the chamber through an entirely different crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy, chambers of commerce have been hard hit on two fronts. Not only do they generate much of their revenue from in-person networking events, but large portions of their memberships also tend to be comprised of small businesses ravaged by the pandemic. Despite the challenge, Kreutzer says the Pittsburgh Airport Area of Chamber of Commerce’s membership has remained strong and that it’s been able to continue to offer relevant services to members. “I think this comes back to leadership and gaining the confidence of your members and staff,” she says. “It is important for them to know that we will get through this.” Once the pandemic is over, Kreutzer believes that chambers will be even more important to companies as they seek to find new ways to communicate and connect. Kreutzer also thinks the economy will likely see a rise in new small businesses as a result of COVID-19. “I also think we are going to see more businesses downsizing or simply going out of business, which I believe will result in many people deciding to start their own businesses,” she says. “That being said, the chamber needs to be aware of this changing business climate and be sure we are providing the necessary education, resources and support for these budding entrepreneurs to ensure their success.” Asked how she sees the roles of women changing in business and leadership, she cites several individuals profiled alongside her on this list. She also points out that the area now has two female legislators - state Rep. Anita Kulik and state Rep. Valerie Gaydos - and that the country now has its first female vice president. “I think these are exciting times for women,” she says. Kretuzer says that, during her tenure with the chamber, she’s also seen many more female entrepreneurs starting businesses. “Personally, I feel it is important that myself and the chamber mentor these aspiring young women and help elevate them into key leadership roles within the community and the chamber,” she says. “These young people are the future of our communities.”February/March 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 37 Jodi Murn Owner, Renaissance Home Care Technology; Pittsburgh Technical College; the Beaver County Career and Technology Center Business Program; and Germaine Harbor. In 2016, she was awarded the Helping Hands Award from the Express Corporate office and the year after she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, the chamber also awarded her its Sally Award. As well, Gray says her office has become known in the larger Express company for their willingness to try new things and innovate as they work to place the right people in the right jobs. “I believe we will continue - at a higher more customized level to help job seekers and businesses find the right matches,” she says. “I believe we can provide resources to help identify skills and competencies on both sides that will result in a happier and more productive workplace for all.” When asked about the challenges women face in the workplace today, Gray says she and her staff have seen comparatively many more opportunities for equality. She says she’s found that even blue-collar industrial shops have been open and accepting of female candidates. Gray says that attitude was much what she always experienced throughout her career. “As an individual, this was never really difficult for me, even working within the construction industry,” she says. “I always probed and asked questions to learn and meet people where they are.” Twenty years ago, Jodi Murn’s mother suffered an illness that landed her in the hospital for an extended stay. Were it not for a nurse who urged the family to move Murn’s mother to a larger facility with more resources, Murn believes her mother would not be alive today “I’ve never forgotten that nurse,” says Murn. “She perfectly fulfilled a nurse’s primary role of advocating for patients.” It was a revelation that came to Murn later on as she was attending nursing school herself. That experience and that nurse, in fact, were what led her to want to pursue a career in the profession. Today, Murn operates Renaissance Home Care in Imperial. Prior to operating the business, she worked as an RN in intensive care, pulmonary, and telemetry units. She later became a home care nurse because the more flexible schedule allowed her to accommodate her kids’ activities. Through the experience, Murn realized that she was able to give her patients undivided attention in a home setting. There were no interruptions that came with floor nursing and patients were more relaxed and willing to give details about their health history and medications. Murn worked for Renaissance Home Care before purchasing it in 2016, first by caring for patients and then later becoming the company’s director. An Oakdale native and now a resident of McDonald in West Allegheny School District, she relocated the company from Mt. Lebanon to Imperial to contribute to the local economy. Renaissance Home Care employs over 30 full-time, part-time and casual workers in skilled nursing and physical, occupational, and speech therapy. The company also employs home health aides and administrative positions. As the airport area lacked the number of home care agencies present in the South Hills, Renaissance quickly expanded in its new home, tripling its growth in less than five years. Murn has hired many local residents and found a niche by staffing harder-to-serve rural areas of both western Allegheny and eastern Washington counties. She stressed that there is a greater need for home health care each year as the nation’s population ages. The 2020 pandemic magnified the importance of caring for the frail and elderly in the safety of their homes. She says it’s a task welcomed by the Renaissance staff. “Safety is always our top priority and we make every effort to prevent hospitalizations and rehospitalizations,” said Murn, adding that “the trust that our patients have in our ability to keep them safe and provide them services is one of my proudest accomplishments.” Murn attributes the low turnover rate at Renaissance - a huge accomplishment in the industry - partly to her effort to foster an environment where employees feel empowered to provide suggestions that will improve the company. She mentions receiving the Cameo of Caring award for her department when she was a floor nurse, stating that the qualities that earned her that recognition helped shape her philosophy as a future employer and business owner. While more males are entering the nursing field each decade, Murn says the profession is largely populated by females, many of whom hold influential and managerial roles. Women have historically been seen as caregivers and nursing both expands and challenges that role, she says. “I am proud to work in an industry that values the contributions women make at all levels of the healthcare process,” remarked Murn, adding “year after year nurses are voted the most trusted professionals in this country.”38 • Allegheny West Magazine • February/March 2021 In 1980, Kelly Shankle graduated with a degree in cosmetology from Parkway West Vocational- Technical School, which is today Parkway West Career and Technology Center. Upon graduating, she took her state boards and received her license. She also earned a teacher’s license from the Pittsburgh Beauty Academy. At the time, Shankle was already working at a salon in the South Hills and started working full-time right out of high school. When that salon suddenly closed, however, she had to make some big decisions. She was only 19 at the time. “I had to quickly pivot and decided I was going to go into business myself,” she says. “I chose to open my salon in Imperial, an area I grew up in and loved.” This year, Shankle is celebrating her 39th year in business. Her salon, Today’s Hair, which is located in the Essex Plaza along Steubenville Pike, has five employees. Over the years, Shankle has mentored many other young stylists who, like her, trained just a couple of miles away at Parkway West Career and Technology Center. Shankle also sits on the Parkway West Cosmetology Board of Directors. At the same time, Shankle and her stylists have grown a dedicated client base who have come to rely on their expertise and experience. She says she’s also gotten to know and network with many other women working in the field, which is largely female-dominated at the local level. “The field of cosmetology and salons is very female-centric, so I have had the great opportunity to network with many impressive women in this field throughout my career,” she says. She points out, though, that despite the overwhelming number of women running salons and consuming beauty and hair care products, that a large majority of executives at the top of companies making those products are men. “I look forward to seeing the proportion of women making decisions in the areas of women’s beauty and hair care continue to trend upward,” she says. Shankle also looks forward to seeing more female-owned businesses in the region across a variety of industries. Though women have come a long way when it comes to being in leadership positions, Shankle thinks there’s still work to be done. She points to one personal experience where she was asked to sit on an advisory committee of regional businesses. When she showed up at the initial meeting, she was handed a name tag that read “Mr. Shankle.” She turned out to be the only woman on the committee and didn’t feel particularly welcome. “I would hope that over the last 30 years, the frequency of women being placed in situations like this have been on a steady decline, and that women are taken seriously and respected in positions in community development, the cosmetology industry, and beyond,” she says. As far as the average life expectancy of a small business goes, Shankle has beaten the odds numerous times over. One of the salon’s biggest challenges came last year, however, when it and others like it across the state were shut down by Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders. Salons were among the hardest hit, and not allowed to open for two months. Now, Shankle says the salon is operating under strict CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health guidelines. They’ve even hired an additional assistant just to greet clients at the door, take temperatures and coordinate all the additional protocols. With those and other safety measures in place, such as additional cleaning, PPE and limits on occupancy, the salon is continuing to operate. With vaccines starting to roll out, however, hopefully those restrictions won’t be in place forever. Kelly Shankle Owner, Today’s Hair As the world continues to evolve and adapt to the changing circumstances surrounding COVID-19, libraries have hardly been an exception. Yet, while some have been forced to shut their doors, others, like Western Allegheny Community Library, have worked diligently to stay open. In the wake of COVID-19, WACL enacted strict cleaning, masking, and social distancing procedures in order to do so. Though it’s been forced to close its doors a few times, for the most part it has remained open throughout the pandemic. “While the world was shutting down, Western Allegheny Community Library quickly assessed the situation and adapted our services,” says library director Amy McDonald. “We were able to offer more electronic resources, move to virtual programming, and we connected residents with local businesses by creating a working document that regularly shared what businesses were open and what services they were able to offer.” Now, as more people work and study from home, everyone from preschoolers and homeschooling families to telecommuters are utilizing the library for a multitude of purposes, both in person and online. For an organization such as it to continue to stay open and offer its services has been no small feat. Luckily for the local community, McDonald and the rest of the WACL staff have been up to the task. McDonald took over the reins at WACL just four short months before COVID-19 hit. Before that, she was the director of development and partnerships at the library. She formerly worked as a behavior specialist at a large school district outside of Boston, Massachusetts. McDonald holds numerous degrees in education, including a master’s in special education and elementary Amy McDonald Director, WACLFebruary/March 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 39 education. She’s currently working toward her second master’s, this one in information and library science. Under McDonald, the library has tripled its annual fundraising revenue; updated policies and procedures to more effectively and efficiently reach more of the community; and developed a plan for increasing the building’s energy efficiency. All of those measures have allowed WACL to dedicate more resource to its services, which directly benefit the community. WACL has evolved into much more than a place to check out books. Today, the library loans out everything from DVDs and video games to “tech takeout” items like instant pots, air fryers, and pressure washers. It also offers over 700 programs annually, ranging from weekly story times to a variety of events for school- aged children, middle graders, teens, adults, and seniors. Many of those programs are now also being offered online. Visitors can use WACL’s computers, free wireless Internet access, printing/copying/faxing/scanning services and notary services. The library even runs a preschool outreach program utilizing a short bus that’s been converted into a mini traveling library. Its Book Bus visits 10 area preschools and daycares each month, bringing story times, books and a whole lot of fun to children between the ages of 3 and 5. “Libraries are so relevant and resilient,” says McDonald. “As we’ve seen through the pandemic, they continuously evolve to meet the needs of the community.” Outside of the library, McDonald is an ambassador for the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce and sits on the board of directors for the Allegheny Family Network. The organization supports and partners with families that are raising children who have emotional and mental health needs. Like many women in leadership positions, McDonald says she sometimes struggles to maintain an effective home and work life balance. At the same time, she thinks women have an advantage in leadership positions due to their emotional intelligence and ability to empathize. She feels women are oftentimes viewed as more trustworthy, which can help when establishing business relations. “Leadership is not just a job title, it’s a set of strengths and traits. I think women are forging ahead with a new style of leadership, one that is authentic, confident, and highly effective,” she says. 412.205.8998 | DDSWebDesign.com Websites that get results. Designed in Pittsburgh Contact us for a free website analysis. Affordable Custom Designs Responsive Sites | Content Management SEO | E-commerce | Hosting | Maintenance Imagine your website working as hard for your business as you do.Next >