A Pittsburgh Urban Teaching Corps (PUTC) resident is making a career change to make a difference in the lives of children impacted by race and poverty.
What do you do if you’re a successful African American female engineer spending your nights and weekends worrying about the state of public education? Especially when the children in your neighborhood, already struggling with poverty, violence and racial discrimination, aren’t getting the education they deserve.
If you’re LaShawn Neal, you make the decision to do something about it. You decide that, like education reform leaders Marva Collins and Lisa Delpit, you will take on the challenge of educating our youth. You apply to PUTC and dedicate yourself to making a difference in the lives of children impacted by race and poverty.
Before making the decision to change her career, Neal worked for Turner Construction Company as a senior cost engineer. She spent her week forecasting earnings for projects in Pittsburgh as well as understanding all related project risks. After years pursuing her career in engineering, Neal’s commitment to social justice and passion for helping children never went away.
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