Author Profile

Esther L. Bush has served as the President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh since 1994. The agency has ranked as a top performing affiliate three times in succession. In February 2013, Ms. Bush was among 10 Americans recognized at the White House as a Champion of Change in educational excellence for African Americans.  She was appointed by governors to serve on the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Law Enforcement and Community Relations Task Force, the Commission on Academic Standards, and the Voting Modernization Task Force.  She is also the founder of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School.

Ms. Bush graduated from Morgan State and Johns Hopkins universities, with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree, respectively.  She received honorary Doctorates from the University of Hartford, Carlow College, and Allegheny College.  Her career includes working as a high school teacher, college administrator and corporate consultant.  She has progressed in leadership since joining the Urban League movement in 1980—from Assistant Director, Labor Education Advancement Program for the National Urban League, to Borough Director of both the Staten Island and Manhattan Branches of the New York Urban League, to President of the Urban League of Greater Hartford before returning to her hometown.  She is the first woman to serve in each of her last four positions.