Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey has named Alexis Walker to be the city’s new education coordinator.
The appointment, announced Monday, will be funded through a $175,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments.
Walker, 26, of the North Side, previously served as the GirlGov program manager at the Women and Girls Foundation. In that role, she helped launch a summer leadership academy and connected teenagers to local leaders.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Robert Morris University and is pursuing a master’s in education policy and leadership from American University.
As the city’s education coordinator, she will work to build a partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools, officials said in a statement. She will aim to “align resources, remove barriers and deliver high-impact services and initiatives to drive better outcomes for Pittsburgh youth,” officials said.
Walker also will work to coordinate a job pipeline from the Pittsburgh Public Schools Career Technical Education program to the city as part of the mayor’s Pathways to Prosperity initiative. She also will team up with other city departments to align systems around school safety and improve safety for kids who walk and bike to school.
She’ll serve on the city’s advisory committee on youth and family resource centers, a committee made up of representatives from the mayor’s office and City Council that is aiming to create 24-hour centers that would provide resources and safe spaces for the city’s youth.
