PITTSBURGH, PA (September 24, 2021) Four members of the Office of Mayor William Peduto have announced their departure for new positions.
“Alicia, Henry, Tiffini and Darlene have served in this administration for several years and they have brought energy and passion to their roles to make Pittsburgh a better place. I thank each of them for their dedication, drive and creativity to deliver critical programs and services to our residents,” said Mayor Peduto. “We were lucky to have selfless and smart public servants and I know they will each continue to offer their gifts for the betterment of our neighbors.”
Alicia Carberry has served as the Operations Assistant in the Mayor's Office since August of 2017 and has worked for the City since 2015. In her role, Carberry has worked closely with the Chief Operations Officer and departments related to operations. Throughout her six years, Carberry has done incredible work in streamlining and standardizing operations so that staff could focus on initiatives that support and further the City’s vision.
Some of her many accomplishments include:
Carberry also worked closely with city departments to develop the City’s Goals on Littering and Dumping (GOLD) plan. Carberry will be continuing her work on GOLD, zero litter and zero waste as the Department of Public Works Recycling Supervisor in the Bureau of Environmental Services. Monday is her last day with the Mayor’s Office.
Henry Horn Pyatt started in the Mayor’s Office in May of 2014 as the Small Business and Neighborhood Redevelopment Manager in the Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment before becoming the Economic Opportunity Manager in the Office of Equity. Horn Pyatt has worked closely with stakeholders in the small business and redevelopment communities to ensure that local businesses have access to resources to succeed and grow.
Among Horn Pyatt’s many accomplishments over his seven years with the City are:
- Establishing the Financial Empowerment Centers (FECs), which offer free one-on-one financial counseling to any resident over age 18 to help remove barriers for confusing, predatory and often perilous banking or financial management practices. Horn Pyatt served as the city lead to create the FECs in partnership with Neighborhood Allies, Advantage Credit Counseling and Cities for Financial Empowerment. As of September 2021, the FECs have helped 1,077 Pittsburghers increasing savings a total of $1,384.015 and reduced debt by $1,937,037.
- Working closely with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) to create and refine new technical assistance and financial tools for entrepreneurs who have talent and passion but may lack capital or business experience to elevate their enterprises.
- Organizing business districts and city departments to define and work towards shared, achievable goals to promote growth in neighborhood economic opportunities.
- Promoting economic and business development programs that crossed municipal boundaries to enhance the local business network with programs like Go Online Grow Online (GOGO), which provided tools to help businesses migrate their services online during the pandemic. Utilizing multiple funding streams, this service was able to be used in the City of Pittsburgh but also in nearby municipalities so that small businesses throughout the region had access to this critical resource.
Horn Pyatt’s last day in the Mayor’s Office will be October 22 before he moves into his new role as Community Affairs Specialist in Pennsylvania for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Tiffini Gorman Simoneaux started in the Mayor’s Office as the Early Childhood Manager in August 2016 before her portfolio expanded to cover early childhood and other youth initiatives as the Youth and Education Manager in the Office of Equity. Throughout her five years with the City, Gorman Simoneaux has advocated for quality early childhood education and worked with stakeholders in the youth and education space throughout our region to improve accessibility of opportunities.
A few of her innumerable accomplishments include:
- Launching the $2 million Child Care Quality Fund, which offers grants to early learning and child care facilities to enable them to improve and enhance the quality of their programs so there will be more high-quality care facilities for young children in Pittsburgh.
- Implementing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which sends one free book a month to any child in the City of Pittsburgh aged 0-5 so that when they turn five, they have their own library of developmentally appropriate books. Between July 2019 and September 2021, the program has enrolled over 5,000 children and distributed over 83,000 books.
- Being selected to be a part of the National League of Cities inaugural class of Early Childhood Municipal Fellows to build the standards for early childhood nationally through sharing policies, insights and best practices with other municipal leaders from around the country.
Gorman Simoneaux’s last day in the Mayor’s Office will be November 1. She will be moving on to serve as the Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Director at A+ Schools.
Darlene Watson began her role as the administrative assistant receptionist for the Mayor’s Office in September of 2016. During her time, she was an invaluable member of the team, welcoming visitors and callers to the Mayor’s Office and assisting them with a high level of welcoming service.
The accomplishments that she delivered daily with excellence and kindness include:
- Answering dozens of phone calls to the Mayor’s Office daily.
- Gathering information from residents with concerns or issues and working with city staff to ensure they were resolved in a timely manner.
- Serving as the first person people encounter when visiting or contacting the Mayor’s Office and reflecting the values of the administration to provide friendly, transparent and effective services to residents and visitors.
Watson’s last day with the city was Wednesday, September 22. She will be moving to a similar role with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
