Since 1999, former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch and his wife, Latasha Wilson-Batch, have run the Best of the Batch Foundation, whose programs serve more than 3,200 kids across six counties in Pennsylvania each year. We spoke Batch’s wife, Latasha Wilson-Batch, who is executive director of the Batch Foundation, about their work with children in Pittsburgh’s Homestead community, and their plans for expansion.

In October 2011 the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh opened MAKESHOP — an exhibit space where kids and adults can tinker with tools, physical materials, and the latest in digital media. As one of the country’s first museum-based makerspaces, MAKESHOP has become a national model for museums around the country. Rebecca Grabman has been at MAKESHOP since the beginning, rising in the ranks from summer intern to manager. Grabman grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and has a master’s degree in entertainment technology from Carnegie Mellon.

Jessica Pachuta is project codirector at Hear Me, a youth empowerment and media initiative at Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab. As Director of Hear Me 101, Jessica trains teens in Pittsburgh high schools to create documentaries and bring their messages to decision makers. She spoke with us about what she’s learning from spending so much time hanging out with politically engaged young people through Hear Me.

Erika Johnson is the executive director of the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse (PCCR). The center is both a shop of reclaimed materials and a center for hands-on creative programming. An evangelist for reuse, Johnson believes reuse is an essential and underappreciated way to build sustainable communities. Johnson is also an installation artist with a long-term passion for found, rescued, and reclaimed materials, and a more recent obsession with microscopic animals.

As director and teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center, Drew Davidson has his finger on the pulse of the latest and greatest in games and learning. And he’s always pushing the envelope. Davidson also runs ETC Press, an open-source publishing imprint. He is also the editor of its Well Played Journal, which focuses on video games, value, and meaning. He led a team of designers to create the Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia, a digital space for teens now replicated throughout the country. In addition, he’s been a leading voice in national conversations on game play, storytelling, interactive media, and more.