Reflections on 2025

In January of 2025 I became the CEO of Will Allen Foundation. Stepping into this role has been an amazing opportunity. What we have built this past year is something I am genuinely proud of and worth sharing.

We have built a team of dedicated, creative and hardworking professionals who are deeply committed to the success of our students. Success might look like completing a robotics certification, learning how to cope better with difficult emotions, or making a new friend. This team is energetic, persistent in the face of challenges and a lot of fun to work with. It is truly an honor to work alongside such imaginative and industrious colleagues.

New partnerships abound. In 2025, we launched partnerships with top notch organizations like STEM Coding Lab.Together we are serving students in Clairton City School District in grades K-8 with robotics education. Through our partnership with Highmark’s enGen division we are preparing students for print shop and IT jobs. We also began work with Brentwood School DIstrict offering our signature Healthcare Explorers Club, exposing students interested in healthcare industry jobs to the many careers they can pursue, basic medical terminology and guidance for taking steps toward these pathways.

We also received new support from funders including The Jefferson Regional Foundation, the McElhattan Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Highmark, United Way, Snee Reinhardt, Pittsburgh Child Guidance Foundation, Southminster Presbyterian Church, Duquesne Light, LaTerra Builders, Centimark, EQT, Intertech CI and McCarthy Hoffman.

Because of the support of our board, our institutional funders, our donors and our partners we were able achieve some notable accomplishments in 2025:

• We began a summer day camp program at Clairton City School District
• Our after school program serving 40+ students began in September in Clairton
• Our robotics competition team placed 4th out of 31 teams in a recent competition
• We received nominations for Nonprofit and Company Culture in the Tech 50 Awards from Pittsburgh Technology Council and won in the Nonprofit category
• Our founder, Will Allen was named among the Class of 2025 Men of Excellence by the New Pittsburgh Courier as well as the Social Impact Honoree for Smart Business Dealmakers of the Year
• We secured and distributed more than 700 backpacks to students from Clairton and Imani Christian Academy
• We took 60 students from low income, single parent families in Duquesne and Clairton shopping for the holidays to select gifts for their caregivers and siblings
• We organized a rapid response to increasing food insecurity and along with the Eden Hall Foundation and Clairton City School District, providing all 750 students at Clairton with a $50 gift card to a local nonprofit grocery store, Produce Marketplace, to increase access to fresh foods and staple items over the extended winter break
• We received our first mini grant for Lights on After School and had a glow party to celebrate
• We took students to Acrisure Stadium for a closed “Family & Friends” practice to watch the Steelers scrimmage and meet current and former players
• We organized a competition with Google for students from The Neighborhood Academy and Clairton to design solutions to community challenges with Gemini AI

We are excited for all that is ahead of us for 2026. Thank you to all who have supported and contributed to our efforts. When we invest in the youth in our community, we invest in our collective future.

With appreciation,

Jessica Marsh
CEO
Will Allen Foundation

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