We were lucky to catch up with Tiffany Ward recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The Pittsburgh Village Project’s mission is to unite people, projects, and programs for stronger academic and community impact.
We are an educational cooperative that writes project-based, community-driven curricular resources that drive educational programming for learners from early childhood through grade 12.
Our Story:
In April 2020, schools across the Greater Pittsburgh Area scrambled to find innovative ways for learning to continue as the world grappled with Covid-19. While some schools appeared to continue seamlessly with instruction, under-resourced schools and communities faced challenges including access to technology and internet, despite best efforts. Our founder, urban educator and project-based learning enthusiast Tiffany Ward, recalls being home at the start of the pandemic with a notebook of ideas, a laptop, and a desire for Pittsburgh’s children to receive joyful, real-world learning experiences during and beyond the height of the pandemic. After several emails and Zoom sessions with potential partners, she developed a set of projects for students to continue learning core academic subjects authentically through caring for plants at home and exploring nature. After several iterations of programming, The Pittsburgh Village Project was born- an organization dedicated to strengthening the education system through strategic partnerships and the development of culturally relevant, community-driven learning experiences with youth and families.
Our model unifies students across demographic groups to participate in project-based learning that inspires real change. Our project-based learning experiences are offered through community events, fellowship programs and workshops that engage learners from early childhood through grade 12 in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & mathematics), social justice, and community service.
Our model is unique in that it engages children and families across demographic, geographic regions in centrally located learning spaces. Several schools and communities in Pittsburgh remain racially and economically homogenous, leaving few opportunities for students to meet and collaborate with others within their peer group across the region. Moreover, given the shifting demographics in the United States, high levels of political divisiveness and battles over what students learn in schools, it is imperative for youth to learn to work collaboratively with all types of humans on challenges within systems that affect us all.
In partnership with youth, families, and community members, we collectively revive the education system through access to rigorous learning and intentional community empowerment.
Tiffany, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Tiffany Ward is our project founder. She is a nomadic spirit and certified brainstormer whose adventures landed her from Chicago to Pittsburgh for college in 2006, hoping to see the unknown. Originally seeking pre-medicine studies, she joined the Americorps Jumpstart Pittsburgh program and pursued education after reading statistics about inequities in early childhood for communities that socioeconomically matched her own growing up. As a teacher and instructional coach by day, she developed a passion for project based learning and teaching mathematics and other content through maker learning. She designed The Pittsburgh Village Project to collaborate with students, families, organizations and community members to deliver equitable and engaging learning experiences to students and families.
Our organization is proud of and enthusiastic about uniting groups of students and families who may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn together in traditional school settings. We are dedicated to nurturing community partnerships and centering community voices as we create and implement programs that simultaneously spark academic achievement and community engagement. Our current initiative, Raise UP, is dedicated to uniting young children (3-5) and their families in STEAM projects that promote environmental justice. We are especially excited about this work, as it embodies all of our core values and will allow participating families to innovatively address small-scale environmental issues with their children.
Our first event for this program was small, but mighty, and featured representation from neighborhoods across our city with significant socioeconomic differences, and multiple languages spoken by attendees, We are excited to establish an outdoor classroom and an indoor mobile classroom in 2025 to keep the momentum going for this project!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Our organization is fiscally sponsored by an amazing local nonprofit called New Sun Rising. Under their support, our team can access grants, seek donations, and host online fundraisers to support our mission. In addition, we received funding from the 4.0 Schools Tiny Fellowship, which provided coaching, capital, and a community of support to launch a pilot of our first student & family cohort addressing food insecurity through project-based learning.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Honestly, we have found that starting with a small, loyal network, then building trust from there has helped immensely. One of our board members had the most amazing advice – “water your small garden, and it will grow.” We have focused on deeply nurturing current partnerships to build a solid foundation for growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pghvillageproject.org
- Instagram: pgh_village
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pghvillage/
