ebush19@nul.org

Esther L. Bush has served as President & CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh since 1994. Under her leadership, the Greater Pittsburgh chapter has ranked as a top performing affiliate three consecutive years. In February 2013, Ms. Bush was among 10 Americans recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change in educational excellence for African Americans.  She was appointed by Pennsylvania’s governors to serve on the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, the PA Commission for Crime and Delinquency, the Law Enforcement and Community Relations Task Force, the Commission on Academic Standards, and the Voting Modernization Task Force. Ms. Bush is also the founder of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School.

Ms. Bush graduated from Morgan State (BS) and Johns Hopkins (MA) Universities.  She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Hartford, Carlow College, and Allegheny College. A former high school teacher and college administrator, she has progressed in leadership since joining the Urban League movement in 1980. Early on, she served as the assistant director of the Labor Education Advancement Program for the National Urban League. Later she held the post of Borough Director of both the Staten Island and Manhattan Branches of the New York Urban League. Eventually, she became President of the Urban League of Greater Hartford before returning to her hometown.  She is the first woman to serve in each of her last four positions.