Pittsburgh

BUILD Pittsburgh

2025 Youth Pitch Competition

PROBLEM:

A student’s opportunity is too often limited by their zip code, race and class.

the build story
IN Pittsburgh.

In 2020, BUILD began exploring the feasibility of bringing our entrepreneurship education programming to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Through the support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation (RKMF), BUILD conducted a comprehensive Landscape Analysis Study (Study). The Study found a need, and opportunity, for youth entrepreneurship education in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. With the support of a four-year RKMF grant (2021-2025), BUILD has two full-time staff located in PA who are working with schools, community-based organizations (CBOs), out-of-school-time providers (OSTPs), and the community-at-large to establish a sustainable presence of BUILD in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

 

BUILD Pennsylvania showcases that dreaming big, working hard, and persistence is in all of us. As we move forward, we will continue to inspire and empower under-resourced students across the Greater Pittsburgh Area to achieve their full potential and help build a brighter, more equitable, and interconnected society.

2020

Feasibility Study

In 2020, BUILD began exploring the feasibility of bringing our entrepreneurship education programming to Pittsburgh. Through the support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation (RKMF), BUILD conducted a comprehensive Landscape Analysis Study (Study). The Study found that there was a need, and opportunity, for youth entrepreneurship education.
2021

BUILD Pittsburgh was launched!

In 2021, the Richard King Mellon Foundation awarded BUILD with a grant to implement BUILD in partnership with schools in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. BUILD Pittsburgh launched its first pilot school, McKeesport Area Senior High School.
2022

Spreading the Word

In May 2022, BUILD Pittsburgh hosted the first annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Youth Pitch Competition to for all educators and high school students to have the chance to compete in teams for prizes while experiencing Project-Based Learning in Entrepreneurship through the BUILD Design Challenge.
2023

Growth and Oportunity

In partnership with BNY Mellon, we launched the SWPA Teacher Fellowship to train more than 40 local educators in using project-based learning to instill entrepreneurial mindsets and 21st Century skills in their students.
Now

Towards The Future

Since our founding, BUILD Pittsburgh has grown to serve more than 300 students annually with our year-long curriculum, as well as outreach to more than 150 students through our yearly Youth Pitch Competition.


BUILDFest 2025 Winners:
Team AcademIQ

Meet our BUILD SWPA Youth Pitch Competition winners, Team AcademIQ and hear about their proudest moments during the process of creating their business and throughout the school year.

watch the interview


BUILDFest 2024 Winner Jerel Simms on SLB Radio

Pittsburgh Westinghouse student Jerel Sims and BUILD Sr. Program Manager Emily Donato on his recent success in the entrepreneurial competition at the 2024 BUILD SWPA Youth Pitch Competition.

listen to the interview

BUILD’s Teacher Fellowship Aims to Ignite Youth Entrepreneurship

In August 2023, BUILD launched the Southwestern PA Teacher Fellowship Pilot for middle and high school educators who are interested in developing their students’ 21st-century skills.

learn more

Thank You to Our Partners

  • All
  • Catalyst $100K+
  • Pennsylvania
  • Visionary $20K+

updates & events.

BUILD SWPA’s Emily Donato Interviewed on SLB Radio

Emily Donato discusses BUILD SWPA’s 2025 Southwestern PA Youth Pitch Competition with SLB Radio’s Melissa Selko. Listen to the interview here!
READ MORE

America’s Young Entrepreneurs Shine at BUILDFest 2025: A National Celebration of Youth-Led Innovation

As BUILD.org embarks on its 25th year, it proudly showcases the next generation of entrepreneurial changemakers through its innovative BUILDFest events in Bay Area, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Boston, and New York City over the next month. BUILD, a national nonprofit organization, is on a mission to use entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of youth from under-resourced communities, enabling them to build career success, entrepreneurial mindsets, and opportunity. BUILDFest events serve as vibrant celebrations of the transformational power of youth entrepreneurship, redefining education and creating opportunities for middle and high school students in under-resourced communities.
READ MORE

BUILD Hosts Myth-Busting Panel of Entrepreneurial Educators: “AI Empowering the Next Generation of Entrepreneurial Leaders” at The Global Impact Forum 2024

Official Press Release Here Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2024 – BUILD.org, a leading national nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth in under-resourced communities through entrepreneurship education for the last 25 years, […]
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BUILDFest SWPA 2024 Featured on Youth Express: Jerel Sims – SLB Radio

Youth Express: 2024 Southwestern PA Youth Pitch Competition, Jerel Sims – SLB Radio
READ MORE

BUILD.org Hosts Youth Entrepreneurship Competitions Nationwide to Celebrate 25 Years of Empowering Youth and Educators

As BUILD.org embarks on its 25th year, it proudly showcases the next generation of entrepreneurial changemakers through its innovative BUILDFest events in Bay Area, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Boston, and New York City over the next month. BUILD, a national nonprofit organization, is on a mission to use entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of youth from under-resourced communities, enabling them to build career success, entrepreneurial mindsets, and opportunity. BUILDFest events serve as vibrant celebrations of the transformational power of youth entrepreneurship, redefining education and creating opportunities for middle and high school students in under-resourced communities.
READ MORE

Remake Learning Days Feature BUILDFest SWPA 2024

Remake Learning Days is a celebration of innovative experiences and opportunities for youth to develop their sense of creativity, perseverance and curiosity. These events are designed to be hands-on, relevant […]
READ MORE

the build Pittsburgh team.

Regional Teams
Emily Donato
Senior Program Manager

Emily Donato

Position: Senior Program Manager
Email: edonato@build.org
Emily joins BUILD with experience as Manager of Career Development Programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and a former Career Coach serving high school students placed in corporate internships in the greater Pittsburgh area. With expertise in personalized learning, program development, and youth and volunteer recruitment, Emily’s tools workforce development includes Project Based Learning and Human Centered Design. Emily is an AmeriCorps Public Ally Pittsburgh Alum and a yoga instructor. She received her RYT-200 Certification from YogaRoots on Location’s Anti-Racist Yoga Teacher Training in 2018. Emily’s yoga and career-mentorship practices utilize trauma-informed care and restorative practices. Emily believes that engaging, real-world workforce development training for young people is the key to social, economic, and educational equity. For fun she enjoys travel, food, music, reading, playing with dogs, laughing with friends, and encouraging self-compassion and accountability. Emily holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Theatre Dance from the College of Wooster.
Betsy Neptune
Regional Executive Director
Boston

Betsy Neptune

Position: Regional Executive Director, Boston
Email: bneptune@build.org
Betsy Neptune comes to BUILD with over 15 years of experience in community economic development in Latin America and the U.S. She is passionate about creating a world in which everyone can have a job that they love and one through which they can grow and develop in order to have a positive impact. In her most recent role as the Chief of Economic Development for the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, she led economic recovery and resilience efforts for 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston. During her tenure, she expanded the work of the team beyond traditional economic development efforts, to include workforce development, digital access, and other strategies to advance wealth creation with a focus on reducing the racial wealth gap. Over the past year, her team played a key role in COVID response and recovery efforts throughout the Greater Boston region. Prior to that role, she led the Small Business Technical Assistance program for the City of Boston, after serving as the Executive Director of Egleston Square Main Street, an organization in Jamaica Plain/Roxbury whose mission is to support small businesses. This work was shaped by her experiences working in community economic development for several years in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Betsy has a heart for teaching, coaching, and entrepreneurship, so BUILD is a perfect fit. She has taught high school and graduate-level classes and also coaches existing and emerging entrepreneurs through her coaching business. She is a graduate of Trinity College with a degree in Anthropology and has certificates in Nonprofit Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. She received her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and lives in Boston.

Pittsburgh.

MAILING

P.O. Box 3316
Redwood City, CA 94064

Contact

pittsburgh@build.org
Phone (510) 271-8244

Download a Sample of Our Curriculum

Fill out this form to receive a free sample of our curriculum and to receive occasional email updates on how to bring BUILD to your community.

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VIDEO PREPARATION GUIDELINES

HOW TO RECORD

1. iPhone, iPad, Zoom and Loom are all choices of recording tools for their video presentation 
2. Record with both students and their presentation in view
3. Record horizontally for the best view of the students and their presentation
4. Follow Presentation Diagram to the Right

PRESENTATION TIPS.

- Make eye contact with the camera
- Notecards may be used as cue cards
•Pro Tip: Notecards should avoid having a full script
- Even when you are not speaking, don’t forget the camera is still recording!
•Be aware of your body language while you and your business partners are speaking
- Everyone has an opportunity to speak
- Professional dress is encouraged
- Practice makes perfect
•Practice how you will transition from each speaker
•Project your voice when you speak​

Follow positioning format Above

Download a Sample of Our Curriculum

Fill out this form to receive a free sample of our curriculum and to receive occasional email updates on how to bring BUILD to your community.