Khadiza Massey pronouns: she/her/hers Khadiza Massey, a longtime Grounded Steward-turned-employee, was born in Homewood and raised in Missouri. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in Finance. She moved back to Pittsburgh where she now also works as the Manager for the Homewood Farmers’ Market with Grow Pittsburgh, has been elected as a Board Member at the Pittsburgh Food Council, and is a Community Ambassador to the Homewood Children's Village. Khadiza currently lives in Wilkinsburg and spends…Read More
Emily Bayer The Hacker Group Emily Bayer is a marketing and communications professional, focused on B2C direct marketing at a full-scale agency. Outside of work, she can be found checking her Twitter feed, supporting grassroots initiatives, visiting new restaurants and attending sporting events at her alma mater, The University of Pittsburgh.Read More
Skylar McGinley Pronouns: he/him/his Skylar strives to be a part of the change that he wants to see in the world. He says "a part of" because we can't always do everything on our own. It often takes a united group of people to begin to see the changes we desire. Skylar has a Bachelor of Science in English from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH. After graduating, he took part in the Photography Intensive course at Pittsburgh Filmmakers (now part…Read More
Breeonia Prioleau For Bree, joining GTECH wasn’t a hard decision. She recalls learning about GTECH on a sunny afternoon in the spring of 2015. She was attending Propel Andrew Street High School and had stayed after school to run her club for video games. Just as she was packing up and about to leave, Bree's Biology teacher pulled her aside and asked about her summer plans, to which Bree replied: “ I just planned on hanging out and possibly getting a job.”…Read More
Riley McGrath Pronouns: they/them/theirs Riley grew up in Norristown, PA and came to Pittsburgh to attend the University of Pittsburgh. They studied Environmental Studies and Urban Studies and earned certificates in Sustainability and Geographic Information Systems. While in Undergrad, Riley spent a lot of time volunteering with different environmental organizations both on and off campus and grew passionate about environmental stewardship and urban sustainability. Prior to joining Grounded, Riley completed a service year with PULSE (Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience) where they…Read More
Jamie Moore Eat'n Park Hospitality Group In 2000, Jamie Moore began his career with Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, a company that has 76 restaurants, 46 healthcare accounts and 44 college and business dining accounts throughout PA, WV, OH, MD, MI and NY. As the manager of purchasing for their on-site brands division he emphasized the need to develop and maintain innovative programs that would separate Eat’n Park Hospitality Group from their competitors. With this in mind, Jamie developed a local purchasing program…Read More
Sophie Smith Pronouns: she/her/hers Raised outside of Philadelphia, Sophie moved to St. Louis for college, where she spent time with environmental activist groups and learned the value of coalition building. Sophie earned her degree in Anthropology and Educational Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. After graduation, she relocated to Pittsburgh to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA for New Sun Rising, in Millvale. During her service year, Sophie conducted community outreach and engagement, and aided with projects surrounding Millvale's sustainable development plan.…Read More
Lauren Taylor Pronouns: she/her/hers Lauren is a fourth-year landscape architecture student at Penn State University with an interest in environmental remediation, sustainable design practices, and community engagement. After graduation in Summer 2021, Lauren hopes to gain some experience working with a firm and then return for her Masters of Science in Landscape Architecture. She’s learned how to get her hands dirty through her previous work on construction/maintenance crews at a landscape architecture firm in Erie, PA. After having the opportunity to work…Read More
Tom Tao My name is Sifan Tao, and people usually call me Tom. I am really excited to start my summer internship at GTECH. When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved labor skills classes. In those class, we learned to build our own shelves, chairs, and other interesting things. I have always had a passion for using my hands to build things that I like, and I believe that with GTECH my passion for building will also benefit the community we live in as well.…Read More
Carla Mitchell 3R Building Sustainability Carla Mitchell is a Principal at 3R Building Sustainability, where she collaborates with teams to build innovative, green buildings. She is a Pittsburgh native who spent most of her career working in places like Washington, DC and Los Angeles, but now spends her time helping make Pittsburgh a more sustainable and livable city.Read More
Odera Igwe Pronouns: she/her/hers Odera Igwe was born in Ypsilanti, MI and raised in Monroeville, PA. She attended Gateway High School, where she joined the environmental club and began her journey into the field of environmental sciences. She graduated from Chatham University where she majored in Environmental Biology with a focus in sustainability and plant science. During her time there she was involved with the student body as class president and resident assistant. Odera also had the opportunity to be directly a…Read More
Miranda Micire Miranda is joining Grounded as a practicum student from the Masters of Social Work program at the University of Pittsburgh. She is in her first year of the Community Organizing and Social Action (COSA) program and is pursuing a joint degree in Public Administration. Miranda has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Dayton. While living in Dayton, Miranda worked at Homefull as an employment case manager assisting homeless individuals with gaining employment. Previously, she was…Read More