Taliya Allen joined The Pittsburgh Foundation in October 2023 as program associate. In this role, she will primarily be working in the area of arts and culture, providing project management for several initiatives including Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh and the Exposure Artist Program; supporting efforts to strengthen relationships with grantees and connecting artists to one another as well as local and national resources that support their careers and lives.
Before coming to the Foundation, she served as the regional manager for the Petey Greene Program which supports the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and educates volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system. Taliya is also a consultant for the Black Transformative Arts Network and has concentrated her energy on enhancing Pittsburgh’s cultural and artistic landscape through direct support to artists and collaboration with small arts organizations.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Taliya began her career in Honoka'a, Hawaii as an educator with Teach for America in 2013. She relocated to Pittsburgh in 2015 and began leveraging her experience as an educator, her academic training and her passion for social justice and human rights as a graduate intern in Pittsburgh Public School’s Office of Equity, and eventually as director of arts education and cultural enrichment for 1Hood Media. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, writing and traveling.