The Gwen’s Girls Equity Summit highlighted the challenges and inequalities that affect black girls in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Black girls experience higher rates of violence, more incidents of discrimination in school and more poverty at home than white girls. Those disparities were highlighted in a new report, released Friday, that was funded by the FISA Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

The conference included top local officials including Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Dr. Karen Hacker, who leads the Allegheny County Health Department. The main panels featured discussions about inequalities in education, the juvenile justice system and in areas of health and wellness.

PublicSource had a storytelling space at the conference where attendees could tell their personal stories of experiencing bias or discrimination.

If you didn’t have a chance to come to the event or follow it live on social media, these tweets will give you a good sense about what was discussed:

This story was made possible by donations to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.

Can you help us keep going with a gift?

We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source. Since 2011, we’ve taken pride in serving our community by delivering accurate, timely, and impactful journalism — without paywalls. We believe that everyone deserves access to information about local decisions and events that affect them.

But it takes a lot of resources to produce this reporting, from compensating our staff, to the technology that brings it to you, to fact-checking every line, and much more. Reader support is crucial to our ability to keep doing this work.

If you learned something new from this story, consider supporting us with a donation today. Your donation helps ensure that everyone in Allegheny County can stay informed about issues that impact their lives. Thank you for your support!

GIVE NOW

MOST READ STORIES