Current Programs & Initiatives

Impact Reports: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020

involveMINT Quarterly Gatherings:

The involveMINT Annual Gathering, held at Trace Brewing on January 30th 2025, brought together 11 diverse partners—from the University of Pittsburgh to C&J Financial Foundation Bookkeepers—alongside board members and community leaders to launch a new series of quarterly events aimed at growing the involveMINT network. A central feature of the evening was an interactive asset mapping activity, led by Kristen Ahern, which revealed shared goals, underused resources, and collaboration opportunities across food access, sustainability, education, and mutual aid. These events are intentionally hosted in community-rooted spaces that reflect partner values—from Trace Brewing to Community Kitchen PGH near our Hazelwood Food Recycling site, Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship, and Garfield Community Farm later this fall. This rotation supports place-based engagement and amplifies local leadership. Together, these events aim to foster shared action towards food sustainability, mutual support through exchanging and sharing, and advance community-centered, circular economic models.

Circular Composting ECOconomy at Penn Hills Charter School & Hazelwood Food Recycling Site: Developing an independent circular economy that recycles nutrients by diverting food scraps from the landfill, composting them, and using the compost to reclaim vacant land and grow food. Our goal is to make this program sustainable long term through the involveMINT Community Barter Network in collaboration with core partners: Worm Return, LLC | Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship (PHCSE) | Terroir Designs, LLC | Ecotone Renewables | Aggrocculture | Center of Life | Pitt Community Engagement Center | Soil Sisters, LLC | DECO Resources | Pitt Moss | Floriated Interpretations | Hazelwood Initiative | Glen Hazel Community Garden | Spiritus Vitae | Dylamato's Grocer, etc.

Garfield Community Farm ECOconomy: Collaborating on an asset mapping process to build an ECOconomy "Community Barter Network" leveraging their existing connections and partnerships to support Garfield Community Farm's access to needed resources and supplies when funding/donations are scarce.

SolarPunkFuture 2025 and SolarPunkPledge: is an ambitious initiative designed to envision and create a sustainable, eco-friendly future through innovative projects and community collaboration. This program, in partnership with ReImagine Jobs (Climate Reality Project), Geek Artists/Green Innovators, New Sun Rising, and Boom Concepts, and supported in part by Heinz Endowments, aims to inspire and implement green solutions that address climate change and promote environmental stewardship. By fostering creativity and innovation, SolarPunk Future 2025 seeks to build a resilient and sustainable future for all. Moving forward in collaboration with: ReImagine Jobs (Climate Reality Project) | Geek Artists/Green Innovators | New Sun Rising | Boom Concepts | Supported in part by Heinz Endowments.

PGH Connection EXPO with Social Health PGH

The PGH Connection EXPO, hosted by PGH Social Health on February 8th 2025, was a vibrant, de-commodified event designed to foster social wellness and community collaboration. Held at Velum Fermentation in Pittsburgh’s South Side, the event brought together over 20 mission-driven organizations—including JCC AgeWell, Highmark Caring Place, and Tee Total Collective—for an evening of resource sharing and connection. A standout feature was the live asset mapping activity, facilitated by involveMINT in collaboration with Global Shapers. In this exercise, each organization vocalized a specific need—from outreach support to space, supplies, or volunteers—while another organization stepped in to say how they could help meet that need. A piece of yarn was then physically passed between them, weaving a visible web of interdependence across the room. The result was a powerful visual representation of how organizations can support one another, which we aim to formalize and extend through the involveMINT platform—enabling ongoing exchange, accountability, and mutual aid in a way that transcends traditional financial systems.

Past Programming

Catalyze Your Cause: In 2022, involveMINT and ReImagine jobs partnered to bring an innovative program designed to effect positive environmental, social, and most importantly, systems change. This program, Catalyze Your Cause (CYC), is a series of experiential learning workshops that transforms new and existing social, technological, and ecological projects into a means of living. Using the involveMINT Community Impact Network, participants learned to create community resource networks that can be leveraged to provide goods, services, and people they need to make their cause sustainable. Through our Sustainable Business Network, ReImagine Jobs identified work opportunities and provided resources to incubate new social innovations.