2025 Commencement Speaker
Saleem Ghubril
Executive Director, The Pittsburgh Promise
Saleem Ghubril is a passionate advocate for children and for the city of Pittsburgh. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he has devoted his life to serving the people of his community through outreach and education programs.
In 1985, Ghubril founded The Pittsburgh Project, a community development organization that provided free home renovations to hundreds of vulnerable seniors each year. It also mentored, educated and deployed thousands of youth in meaningful volunteer community service.
In 2008, Ghubril assumed the leadership of The Pittsburgh Promise, an organization that works for a future where:
• all urban youth are equipped to reach post-secondary success,
• all public schools serve all children excellently,
• Pittsburgh is flourishing in all its neighborhoods,
• and our workforce is widely diverse and highly skilled to advance a region that is good and just for all.
In the last 16 years, The Pittsburgh Promise has sent more than 12,000 urban youth to college and provided them with over $180 million in scholarships.
Ghubril is the pastor emeritus of Mosaic Community Church in Pittsburgh. He also serves on the boards of The Hear Foundation, Pittsburgh Scholar House and UPMC.