Pittsburgh, prepare to increase your awesomeness, $1,000 at a time.

Awesome Pittsburgh grants money – cold hard cash with no strings attached – to people or groups with brilliant ideas.  Pittsburgh, already a hotbed of awesomeness, is brimming with smart, passionate, creative, crazy people. Awesome Pittsburgh’s team of trustees wants to give some of you $1000 to do something amazing. We want to hear your best ideas for making the Pittsburgh region stand out in the global economy, for connecting our communities, for celebrating art or technology, for making the community a better place to live, work, and play, or for simply surprising and delighting your fellow Pittsburghers.

If you have a project idea burning inside you, find out how to apply and get your submission to us by the next funding cycle (deadline is the last day of every month).

To stay connected with us and get the latest on each award winner and proposal deadline, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Awesome Pittsburgh Trustees and Volunteers

Awesome Pittsburgh brings together an interesting mix of people from diverse occupations, organizations, and backgrounds, all of whom share an interest in making Pittsburgh even more awesome and bringing Pittsburgh’s awesomeness to the world:

• Alexis Macklin
• Alta Moquette
• Anna Abovyan
• Dan Keebler (Awesome Administrator)
• Emery Ling (Awesome Ambassador)
• Emily Keebler (Dean of Awesome)  
• Eric Davis 
• Eric Silver
• Evelyn Castillo 
• Jeb Feldman (owner of UnSmoke Systems)
• Juddson Poeske
• Lauri Fink 
• Lulu Orr
• Marco Cardamone  (Awesome Accountant)
• Mike Capsambelis 
• Mona Strassburger
• Sam Bute Hartzman
• Shane Richardson
• Sarah B. Boyle

Trustees Emeriti

• Ariella Belopolsky
• Andy Coleman
• Anne Kelly
• Ayanah Moor
• Brett Yasko
• Carolina Pais-Barreto Beyers
• Carolyn Kelly
• David Brooks
• David Thor
• Debra Titus (Awesome Fellow)
• Elvira Eichleay
• Heather White
• Jennifer Hicks (Awesome Ambassador)
• Kenya Boswell
• Leah Helou
• Leah Lizarondo
• Mary Ellen Solomon
• Matt Gaston (@mattgaston)
• Melanie Harrington
• Melonie Nance
• Murphi Cook (Awesome Fellow)
• Paul André (@paulesque)
• Pete Maher 
• Riis Whitworth
• Robert Young
• Satya Venneti
• Sonia Bajwa
• Soraya Alexander
• Steven Sokol
• Tina Tuminella (Awesome Ambassador)
• Tony Macklin (@tonymacklin1)
• Yo Miyashita

The organization is simple. The board is comprised of 10 or more Trustees who promise to fulfill three duties:

1. Contribution: Commit $100 per month in the interest of Awesome for at least a year. This contribution goes towards the $1,000 award we grant each month.
2. Participation: Play an active role in accepting and reviewing applications, and in collectively deciding on winning ideas.
3. Succession: Commit to help finding a replacement Trustee, should one need to back out of the obligation.

Trustees serve until they resign, lapse in participation, or are otherwise incapacitated. We keep a wait list of potential Trustees, so feel free to email us if you’re interested.