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For more than 20 years, Jane has led the Foundation’s grantmaking in community and economic development, serving as a champion and advocate for upward mobility programs for entry-level workers, affordable housing, and transportation and green infrastructure strategies. For two decades prior to this, Jane worked for the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning, where she ultimately served as planning director. Her experience in community development extends far beyond our city. Before coming to Pittsburgh, Jane served as a community development worker in Panama’s national housing agency with the Peace Corps in Panama City. She currently serves on the Partner4Work Youth Advisory Committee of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board.
Over her career, she has served on the boards of dozens of Pittsburgh nonprofits, most of them related to affordable housing and community development, including the Allegheny County Homeless Advisory Board and Neighborhood Allies, as well as boards of such national organizations as the Neighborhood Funders Group and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. She also served on the board of trustees of Bates College, where she earned a degree in government, and the Board of Visitors of University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, where she earned her master’s degree in urban and regional planning. Jane is an adjunct faculty member of the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University. She’s also well-known in local ballroom dancing circles and once competed in the American Latin and Smooth categories.
Kevin J. Bartko is the Director of Operations of the Housing Choice Voucher Program for the Westmoreland County Housing Authority (WCHA) overseeing over 2,000 tenant-based and project-based assisted units and over $14M in annual program funding. Prior to his employment with the WCHA in December 2021, he was the Associate Director of Housing Management Operations for the Allegheny County Housing Authority, specializing in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and conventional public housing. Mr. Bartko’s knowledge and experience in the industry began over 35 years ago with his position at a locally based real estate development & management company, where he leased conventional and assisted apartments and coordinated internal administrative functions with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA). He is also the former Associate Director of the Section 8 Department for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, where he worked for over 23 years. In addition, Mr. Bartko has owned two successful public housing consulting firms providing innovative housing solutions, compliance monitoring and quality assurance programs for more than 20 years.
Mr. Bartko is also the co-owner of Pennsylvania Housing Resources (PHR) which provides management services for the Pennsylvania Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies (PAHRA), a state-wide agency of housing, redevelopment, community development and non-profit agencies. PHR manages all functions of PAHRA whose purpose is to disseminate information relating to housing and community development, analyze laws and regulations, and provide a channel for the frequent exchange of ideas, experiences, and innovations for its members. PHR develops and hosts 3 state-wide conferences each year for PAHRA.
Kevin Bartko’s education includes a bachelor’s degree from the Smeal College of Business of the Pennsylvania State University and numerous housing industry certificates.
Very rarely does someone get an opportunity to turn their tragedies into triumphs. During Tammy Thompson’s life she has experienced homelessness, loss, and countless setbacks, but she has used her background to grow, educate, and inspire others. Through her journey, it became clear to her that “Poverty is not just about not having money.”
Tammy is an internationally recognized Poverty Expert. Through her company, T3 Media, a Social Justice Media company, she executive produced, We Wear the Mask, a documentary released in 2017, highlighting the stigma associated with women in poverty. She is also the owner of T3 Consulting. Through T3 Consulting, Inc., she facilitates and develops homeownership programs for local non-profit organizations in Pittsburgh. She is a certified Housing Counselor and has been teaching and speaking about financial literacy and educating families for 20 years. Currently, Tammy is the Founder and Executive Director of Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, where she has developed multiple wealth-building initiatives including, Catapult: Startup to Storefront and the Gallery on Penn, a retail incubator program.
As a highly sought-after speaker, Tammy shares stories of her life to illuminate her journey through poverty toward prosperity. Her story, “One Can of Carrots,” has become one of her signature talks and has resulted in the creation of workshops and a curriculum rooted in her expertise of “The Psychology of Poverty.” “The Psychology of Poverty” training gives participants an opportunity to shift their perspective and recreate how they’ve been impacted by the psychological implications of poverty—it provides an avenue to re-route their relationship with money.
Her life’s work has been featured in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and many other publications.
Tammy is a mother of five and grandmother of 19. She resides in Pittsburgh and is raising her granddaughter.
Jason is an expert in affordable housing and has more than 20 years of experience in government, community and economic development, affordable housing, real estate development, and non-profit organizations. His work in municipal advocacy and policy includes for than a decade of experience in assisting non-profit organizations to accomplish their goals, connecting/partnering with federal and state departments, and identifying opportunities for support and collaboration.
