FOCUS ON EDUCATION

Chief executive named for Homewood Children’s Village

Walter Lewis is the new president and chief executive of Homewood Children’s Village.

Mr. Lewis, 31, had been serving as interim president and chief executive of the nonprofit since January when its former top executive, Fred Brown, left to become chief executive of the Forbes Funds.

Founded in 2010, the agency partners with schools, churches, foundations and other social service organizations in the city’s Homewood neighborhood to support children’s education and assist families.

“Inlight of his substantial accomplishmentsin a relatively short timeand his demonstrated commitmentto do the hard work necessary toachieve the organization’s missionand vision, the board is confidentthat we have hired the right personat the right time,” said John WallaceJr., board chair.

Mr. Lewis, a Baltimore native, came to Pittsburgh to study for a master’s degree program in computational biology at Carnegie Mellon University.

Whileattending school, he began volunteeringin Homewood “becauseI really just wanted to get connectedto the African-American communityand serve,” he said.

Though he was on a scientific research path after college and throughout graduate school, Mr. Lewis had a background in tutoring and wanted to pursue a career that used his passion for education, he said.

“My work at CMU was interesting and I loved research and problem-solving, but it had no direct impact on people in the community,” he said.

After earning his master’s, he joined Homewood Children’s Village part time in after-school programming and later became a program manager and director.