Reflecting on Emerald Evening 2021

Emerald Evening 2021 was certainly a celebration to remember.

This was our first fully outdoor fundraising gala – planned as such to ensure the safest possible environment for guests – and the weather cooperated to provide a lovely evening for us to spend time together (an afternoon downpour and fickle weather forecast had us nervous for a while!). The Roundhouse campus was a beautiful space for guests to explore with an eye towards our region’s past and future. Lights twinkled and music floated through the air as friends and colleagues reunited over delicious food and drinks.

We were delighted to celebrate some remarkable people and projects in our annual awards ceremony. Michael Carnahan’s two sons, Michael Jr. and Gavin, accepted the Legacy Award on his behalf, and it was incredibly special to have several members of Mike’s family with us for the evening. We celebrated Dr. Allison Robinson with the Luminary Award, Homewood Children’s Village with the Beacon Award, and Highmark Health’s Fifth Avenue Place and Penn Avenue Place with the Vanguard Award. The awards ceremony concluded with EPIC Metals CEO David Landis inviting all his employees on stage to collectively accept this year’s Enterprise Award. Finally, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald led us in a celebration of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper for their public service and commitments to sustainability. The Mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief Equity Officer (and GBA board member), Majestic Lane, also spoke of the Mayor’s efforts to address health, equity, economy and climate in our region.

Tim Smith (Center of Life) and Melvin Hubbard El (Rep. Ed Gainey’s Office)

We truly enjoyed being with our community, but we certainly missed those who were not able to join us in-person. We had planned to live-stream the awards ceremony for our friends at home, but the threat of rain forced us to cancel that at the last moment. We truly apologize, and we will post a recording of the awards ceremony soon, along with video profiles of our awardees. We hope it will not be too long before we can all be together again, and until then, we will see you all again soon online.

We would like to share our sincere thanks to the following groups listed below. Please also keep an eye out for all the event photos coming soon. Thank you all, and here’s to a future where every building and every community will be sustainable so that every person can thrive!

Nick Rubenstein (evolveEA) and Nate Tovornik (Oxford Development)

Food trucks offered a variety of outdoor dining options