Please join us to hear about the successes of 2017, to learn more about the initiatives the GCA is planning on for the upcoming year, and participate in the election of our 2018 Board of Directors.
Voting is open to any individual who is at least 18 years of age, and either resides, owns real estate, or owns a business in the Greenfield neighborhood. Please be prepared to show proof of residency.
When: 28 January 2018 3:00 to 4:00 pm
Ballots open 3-6pm
Where: Magee Healthy Active Living Center, 745 Greenfield Ave, Pittsburgh 15217
The GCA Board will be filling FIVE open positions. Here’s the Slate of Candidates:
Bryce Aaronsen has lived in Greenfield since August 2013 (except for a brief, few month stint in Mt. Washington that he didn’t really care for). He started working at Hough’s his very first weekend living here, and has been getting to know Greenfield and it’s residents ever since. Currently working as a Property Auditor at Carnegie Mellon University, Bryce is excited about the opportunity to get involved with a small organization and further his passions for building relationships and organizational development.
He graduated with a Masters in International Development from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), where he studied International Development and furthered his passion for for universal access to clean, safe drinking water with experience working in South Africa and Colombia on water and sanitation projects.
Bryce also uses his people skills and passion for the environment closer to home. He has worked for a range of nonprofits from – working with the Wilkinsburg Youth Project one summer, coordinating daily transportation for 60 young people, to serving as the most recent Program Manager for the River Alert Information Network (RAIN), where he was responsible for building relationships, strategic planning, securing new funding, and laying the groundwork for an innovative partnership with the Carnegie Science Center. Bryce has past Board experience with Young Hekima Place, the Youth Board of Hekima, assisting with fundraising and organizational development.
Bryce loves Greenfield, and is looking for an opportunity to get involved in the community he calls home. He’s attended events put on by the GCA, and looks forward to the holiday parade all year long. Most of all, he’s excited at the prospect of getting to know the people in the community better, and to help further the overall health and vitality of Greenfield.
David Cashmere has been an active member of the Public Space Committee since 2012, and just completed his 3rd year as co-chair of the committee tasked with keeping our community looking clean and green! For these efforts, David was acknowledged with GCA’s 2017 “Get It Done” Award.
Over the years, David has organized and participated in countless plantings; weeded and watered our community gardens multiple times and almost single-handedly, painted all the railings at Magee Field. He has been a direct liaison with both the University of Pittsburgh and Western PA Conservancy to organize volunteers and events involving clean-ups, plantings and public spaces.
For the past three years, David has worked with various community associations to secure and get approved a design for the pump house mural on Irvine Street. This particular task has been difficult, yet David has persisted year after year to secure an artist and provide a process that involved Greenfield and its students.
David is a compassionate and giving person who also volunteers with the Animal Rescue League in his spare time. He believes strongly in civic participation and giving his time to help make our community and city a better place.
David earned a degree from University of Pittsburgh in Psychology and Neuroscience. He is also employed in their Western Psychiatric Department where he has worked for the past 26 years in the Sleep and Behavioral Neuroscience Center. David is also a veteran, a former corpsman, in the United States Navy. He moved to Pittsburgh in 1987 and has lived in Greenfield since 1998. He enjoys biking, kayaking, boating and spending time at the beach.
Phyllis Beck and her husband have lived in the “RUN” for the last seven years. They have become part of this community and have learned of the needs of the community through their neighbors. They have been attending the meetings regarding the “census” and what the needs are for the community.
Phyllis’s hope is to work with the Greenfield Community Association so the “RUN” would have voice in the association. She would like to help in the organization of activities within the Greenfield community and to obtain a broader view of the Greenfield area.
Phyllis’s work experience has been with the medical community, funeral services, legal and printing. Phyllis is currently working for her husband as his office manager in a podiatric practice in the Mon Valley area.
Phyllis’s education is a BA in Business Administration from Midway College, Midway, Kentucky and a Master degree in Business Administration from Sullivan University in Louisville, KY.
Phyllis would like to the opportunity to work the Greenfield Community Association in bringing her experience and knowledge of the “RUN” and gaining a wider view of the Greenfield area.
Amy Goetzman served on the Board of the GCA during 2017. Amy grew up in Greenfield, and is the daughter of Rob and Ursula Hutchison. She attended St. Rosalia Grade School and received the Greenfield Youth Recognition Award in 1992 and, along with her husband Chris was named Greenfield person of the year in 2016. She earned both her Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Education from Duquesne University.
Amy is a teacher in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District where she has taught middle school math since 2004. Currently, Amy is the Vice President of BWEA (Baldwin-Whitehall Educational Association), as well as a BWEA House of Delegates Representative.
Amy believes in community service and giving back. She is actively involved at St. Rosalia Academy and Church as PTG President and chairperson for a variety of committees. She wishes to serve on the Board of the GCA so she may contribute to her community and be a part of it’s progress. She is married to Chris and mom to Madison (15) and twins, Jack and Sean (9).
Kimmy Rehak was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and moved to Greenfield in 2010. With an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in English from Allegheny College, she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at Pitt, Chatham, Duquesne and Point Park as well as in Austria and the United Arab Emirates. She moonlights as the owner of a small ESL business, Express English 412, and works as a higher educational professional at Pitt Public Health for her day job.
Kimmy is a Zumba instructor (and taught a class on the Greenfield Bridge!), a DJ with an international music radio show on CMU’s WRCT, and the owner of a small dog named Nacho. Still in the process of renovating her 125 year old house, she hopes to make a similar impact on her community at large through the GCA.
Eric Russell and his family bought their first house together on Kennebec Street in 2013. They moved to the neighborhood from Morningside because they saw everything they wanted in this vibrant, hidden collection of streets and hills: access to public transit; good public schools for their daughter to attend; a community that valued diversity; affordability; green spaces; a grocery store, two business districts with great potential, and amazing views of downtown!
Eric grew up in Elderton, Pennsylvania (near Indiana, Pennsylvania), and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2002. After a few years of working for The Open Door, a non-profit organization serving individuals and families in crisis, Eric moved to Pittsburgh in to attend graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, studying Social Work with an emphasis on Community Organizing and Social Administration. After graduating in 2007 with a Master’s Degree in Social Work, Eric began working with the United Steelworkers Union where he has proudly been ever since.
Eric and his wife, Erin, are firm believers in public education, and Greenfield Elementary School has provided a great start for their 4 year old, Julia, who attends pre-K there. They’ve been so excited to have met so many young couples with children that are working to make Greenfield a community where there kids can learn, play, and succeed.
As a member of the GCA Board of Directors, Eric plans on working as a team player to continue to move our community forward. Eric feels their has been great progress in the neighborhood, rides his bike to work every day, and believes Greenfield is easily the safest and most friendly neighborhood for cyclists to live and commute to downtown and Oakland. Eric and Erin respect and trust all of the staff and teachers at Greenfield, and want to make sure our community supports their important and difficult work. He has been excited to see new businesses like Staghorn Garden Cafe come to our neighborhood. As a member of the GCA Board of Directors, Eric commits to working to continue supporting family-owned businesses like Mark and Kate’s (Staghorn).
Lastly, Eric believes it is important for all of us to support our neighbors who are business owners, trades people, and laborers. He feels that is why he has, and would encourage everyone to choose to support our neighbors who are plumbers, electricians, brick workers and landscapers. Eric feels that doing this will ensure our community continues to be a place where people of all backgrounds can call home.
Jesse Sharrard has been a Greenfield resident and homeowner since 2003, and is quite happy with the changes that the neighborhood has experienced in the past 14 years. Jesse feels that the amenities that we have available to us in Greenfield are significant. It is only through active neighborhood involvement that we’ve been able to not just maintain but grow our available resources to help Greenfield be one of the most livable neighborhoods in one of our nation’s most livable cities. Jesse would like to participate in the GCA board to continue that process.
Jesse works in Hazelwood as Nutrition & Compliance Manager for Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, where he plans menus and teach classes to help students facing significant challenges qualify and obtain stable employment in the culinary sector. Past board and committee experiences include Greenfield PTO, where Jesse advocated for an afterschool program that was eventually adopted; Connect Greenfield; East End Food Co-Op; and Frick Park Lawn Bowling Club.
Jesse’s aspirations for Greenfield include annual bridge celebrations, increasing business presence, reducing the number of blighted properties, and having more connections between longtime residents and newer families.
Francine Smith has been a resident of Greenfield for over 20 years, during which time she has been very active with the community. Francine was responsible for getting two bus stops installed, and has been involved with neighborhood cheerleading, including that for our local baseball groups.
Francine, a Florida State graduate, is currently a teacher with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and has taught at Colfax, Allderdice, and Greenfield Schools. Ms. Smith has shown a strong passion for her students, and has been honored on several levels for her work, including a personal recognition from President Reagan.
Francine has seen a lot of new neighbors moving into Greenfield, and would like to ensure that we are connecting all of our neighbors together. One of the initiatives that Ms. Smith, a self-described go-getter, would like to bring to the GCA is a welcoming committee.
