Shikha Jerath, who has been the Program Coordinator of Community Building and Civic Engagement at Neighborhood Allies, is being promoted to the position of Program Manager of Community Building and Capacity Building.

Shikha joined the Neighborhood Allies team as the Community Leadership Fellow in September 2015, where she recruited 19 leaders to serve on the Grassroots Grantmaking Committee (GGC) and facilitated the development of guidelines for the Love My Neighbor! grant program. Since, the committee of residents, the GGC, has funded  45 projects or over $75,000 in grants to other residents across our city. Since its inception, Love My Neighbor! has grown to become a platform for learning, exchange, and connection across nine neighborhoods in the Pittsburgh region.

“Since starting at Neighborhood Allies, I have built friendships and relationships with people creating change on the ground. These are the grandmothers, storytellers, block watch organizers, greenspace curators, dancers, jazz percussionists, horticulturalists, role models and teachers who are thinking and doing things differently to improve their neighborhoods.  With this new role, I am excited to work with them to create new platforms and develop the knowledge, skills and resources to create larger change.”

Shikha also developed the Community Capacity Building program at Neighborhood Allies. The program focuses on cultivating resident change makers, developing the skills of community organizations, building strong networks and collaborations, and identifying and sharing community resources. Among the networks Neighborhood Allies convenes, the newly formed Partnership Network aims to bring together and organize intermediaries’ skills, knowledge and resources to better serve the capacity building opportunities and gaps in the sector. For this network, Shikha will facilitate and work with partners to lead catalytic cross-sector initiatives and efforts to build capacity across the system.

Join us in congratulating Shikha on her new position!