Past Summits

28th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit

February 21, 2026 @ CCAC North Allegheny Campus

The 28th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit centered on the theme “Building Community for Lasting Democracy and Racial Equity,” bringing together neighbors, organizers, educators, artists, and advocates committed to collective change. Through workshops, dialogue, and shared learning, participants explored how strong, connected communities are essential to protecting democracy and advancing racial justice. The Summit reflected the power of collaboration across Pittsburgh’s communities, affirming that lasting equity is built through sustained partnership, courage, and care for one another.

This year’s topics included:

  • A Church Recons with Our Ties to Enslavement: How History Informs Reparations
  • What does democracy mean in this moment?
  • Understanding and Appreciating 4C Hair
  • Being an Advocate for Conservation and Environment
  • Power in the Seat: Reimagining Boards & Leadership for Racial Equity
  • Pollution to Power: Centering Justice in Allegheny County’s Climate Action Plan
  • Cost of a Cop City in Pittsburgh: Implications for Racial Equity & Facism
  • Dismantling Walls, Building “Casitas”
  • Engaging Teens in Civic Leadership with the Allegheny Youth Vote Coalition
  • A place to begin: Liberations genealogy in community
  • Understanding the Root Causes of Racism
  • Navigating our Democracy to Secure Education & Environmental Justice
  • Know Your Rights: Community Resilience in the Face of Law Enforcement
  • Finding Voice, Creating Space, Making Change: SWPA Drug User Health CAB
  • Building Momentum for Housing Rights and Reparatory Justice
  • The Role of Public Safety in Community Building

We welcomed 20 community partners!

  • YWCA Greater Pittsburgh
  • Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)
  • Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, PA
  • Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse
  • Pittsburgh Overpass Project
  • Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations
  • Pittsburgh City Human Rights Alliance
  • PA Women Work
  • Public Allies
  • B-PEP
  • Penn Future
  • CRSP
  • Frontline Dignity
  • Global Switchboard
  • 412 Justice
  • Allegheny County Sustainability Department
  • Citizen’s Climate Lobby (Pittsburgh Chapter)
  • CEDAW for Pittsburgh
  • Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table
  • Allegheny County Economic Development

27th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit

February 22, 2025 @ CCAC North Allegheny Campus

The 27th Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit brought together community members and organizations together a full day of speeches, workshops, and panel discussions. Visit this link to view more info in our digital program book.

Topics included:

  • Health Equity
  • Food Justice: The Pittsburgh Experience
  • Strategies for Advancing Affordable Housing and Reparatory Justice
  • Connecting Across Differences for Collaboration and Impact
  • Know Your Rights When Interacting With ICE
  • Powering Progress through Data
  • Authoritarian Actions by President Trump 2.0
  • From Oppression to Liberation: Food, Birth, and the Power of Ancestral Healing
  • SCORE: Countering the National Attacks on DEI
  • Centering Climate Justice in Local and Regional Planning
  • Understanding the Recent Changes to Immigration Policy

The event included outreach by 25 local organizations:

  • AIDS Free Pittsburgh
  • Allegheny County Health Department
  • Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP)
  • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Pittsburgh
  • Center on Race and Social Problems. School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh
  • Development in Diverse Contexts Lab (UDDC), Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh
  • Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Pittsburgh Chapter
  • Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)
  • Fair Districts PA
  • Highmark Health
  • Human Rights City Alliance and Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table
  • PA Groundhogs: A Safer Supply Through Science
  • PA Women Work
  • Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (PCHR)
  • Positive Health Clinic
  • Public Allies Pittsburgh
  • Rainbow Serpent: Advancing Black LGBTQ Culture
  • Sierra Club
  • WZUM – the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel/Pittsburgh Public Media
  • YWCA Greater Pittsburgh