KASHIF HENDERSON
This Saturday, June 22, the annual Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community is occurring on the North Shore.
Staff members of the nonprofit organization Neighborhood Learning Alliance (NLA) will be participating in the walk. And they invite others to walk with them, while making a donation to the organization that currently has more than 300 youth participating in positive summer programs in the Pittsburgh area.
“Our mission at Neighborhood Learning Alliance is to empower students from underserved communities to thrive academically and professionally,” said Kashif Henderson, Executive Director of NLA, in a statement provided to the New Pittsburgh Courier. “The Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community is a crucial opportunity for us to rally the support of our community and ensure the continued success of our programs.”
Henderson, in a subsequent exclusive interview with the Courier, June 18, said residents and community members donating to the organization helps keep programs running for students, many of whom come from low-income families in Allegheny County. Henderson said donations of any amount can be made via its website,
neighborhoodlearning.org.
As we speak, NLA has high school students interning at 17 area locations through the popular “Learn and Earn Program,” including West Penn Hospital, University of Pittsburgh’s IT department and Happy Day Dessert Factory, on the North Side. The NLA students also can choose to learn a particular “career pathway” this summer. There’s the nursing and health career pathway, where students shadow doctors and nurses at West Penn; the business career pathway teaches best practices in financial literacy; and the tech career pathway gets more into the digital arena, thanks to CCAC and Pitt’s IT department.
The elementary school students are learning more about physical therapy, thanks to a Moonshot Grant from the Remake Learning Network. The students are putting joints together, learning how to properly walk with crutches, design prosthetics, and Henderson said it really comes in handy as the students will watch on TV the Summer Olympics later this summer.
“Our theme is ‘Summer of Champions,'” Henderson said.
Henderson, 38, who was raised in North Braddock and graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 2004, has always been a strong supporter of youth. With his bachelor’s in social sciences from Pitt in 2009 and his Master of Arts in Teaching earned the following year, he spent years at Pittsburgh Public Schools, in positions like high school/middle school social studies teacher to K-12 Gifted and Talented Coordinator. In March 2022, after speaking with his mentor and hearing from other community members, he took the leap from PPS to executive director of NLA. Still doing what he can to improve the lives of students in the region.
“After speaking to the community members who reached out, and a push by my mentor to step out of my usual comfort zone of a school district,” Henderson said he took on “something new,” and it’s a position he’s excitedly held for the past two-plus years.