Pittsburgh Scholar House names former Urban Redevelopment Authority official as inaugural CEO

The Pittsburgh Scholar House — a new nonprofit that aims to increase support for single-parent families in pursuit of higher education — announced Thursday that it has appointed Diamonte Walker as its inaugural CEO.

Walker previously served as the deputy executive director for Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.

In her new role, Walker will focus on establishing the Pittsburgh Scholar House, to help eligible single parents earn four-year degrees.

The goal is to have them enter high-growth careers to enable economic mobility and sustain better quality of lives for themselves and their children

It will be an affiliate of the Louisville, Ky.-based Family Scholar House.

“An intentional focus on higher educational attainment is needed to address Pittsburgh’s protracted poverty and economic mobility issues,” Walker said. “The data-informed, two-generation model has repeatedly demonstrated successful academic and life outcomes for families. Those outcomes translate to addressing the solvable, but real challenges adult learners with children face when pursuing higher education.”

Walker said she was eager to lead the nonprofit.

The Pittsburgh Scholar House is supported by the 11 colleges and universities that make up the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education. Its funding partners are The Heinz Endowments, Henry L. Hillman Foundation and the PNC Foundation.

The foundations collaborated with PCHE in 2019 to begin the process of bringing the Family Scholar House model into the city.

“The decision to establish the Pittsburgh Scholar House stemmed from a visit by leaders from several of Pittsburgh’s leading foundations to the five Family Scholar House campuses in Louisville,” said David Finegold, Chatham University president and PCHE chairman.

PCHE will incubate the Pittsburgh Scholar House until a dedicated board of directors is formed and the affiliate secures nonprofit status.