Sept. 6 is now ‘Vernard Alexander Day’ in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh City Council has declared Sept. 6 “Vernard Alexander Day” in the city, honoring the director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Community Engagement Center in Homewood.

The proclamation, which recognizes Alexander for his community service, was sponsored by Councilman Khari Mosley and adopted Sept. 9.

Known as “The Connecting King,” Alexander founded the Minority Networking Exchange more than 19 years ago after reading about a historic business closing. The group has since helped entrepreneurs raise more than $10 million.

Alexander has led the CEC in Homewood since November 2023. He grew up in the Hill District and moved to Homewood about a year before the pandemic ­­–– just blocks from the center he would later lead. The CEC is one of four in Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs, which anchors the University’s neighborhood commitments in Homewood, the Hill District, Greater Hazelwood and Oakland.

The center hosts SBDC Entrepreneur Fridays, a weekly session in which a consultant from Pitt’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence and a loan officer from the Neighborhood Community Development Fund meet with current and aspiring business owners at no charge. It also runs a business research clinic and hosts small business support through Neighborhood Allies.

[Learn more about Alexander’s ties to Homewood in Pitt Magazine.]

Before joining Pitt, Alexander was executive director of E3 Alliance Pittsburgh, where he enrolled more than 1,000 entrepreneurs in local business programs and built lender relationships that yielded more than $2 million in small business loans. He is also a trustee for the crowdfunding platform Kiva, serves as secretary of the Invest PGH board and sits on the board for A Dream House.

Photography by Aimee Obidzinski