Stephan Bontrager Email & Phone Number

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Hillman Family Foundations (HFF) supports the philanthropic and civic work of multiple generations of Hillman family members. Based in Pittsburgh, HFF provides administrative services including foundation operations, program management, compliance, and investment oversight.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Riverlife's Vice President, External Affairs is responsible for overseeing all development and communications functions to support Riverlife's mission to create, activate, and celebrate Pittsburgh's riverfronts. In this role, I'm responsible for creating and maintaining a positive public identity for the organization and developing a strong constituent base to help achieve organizational goals. This position reports to the President and CEO, and is a key member of the organization’s leadership team.

Greater Pittsburgh Area

Oversee organizational communications and public relations, marketing, advancement of riverfront initiatives, community engagement and special events. Riverlife is a public-private partnership working to reclaim, restore and promote Pittsburgh’s riverfronts through the creation of a continuous 15-mile loop of riverfront parks and trails in downtown Pittsburgh.• Coordinate public awareness and community process for riverfront initiatives relating to riverfront design, access, sustainability and zoning, working in tandem with City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, property owners/developers, neighborhood groups and other stakeholders.• Spokesperson and coordinator of all media outreach to tell the story of Riverlife capital projects, partnerships and programming. Facilitated national coverage including USA Today, Wired, The Atlantic, Architectural Record, Curbed and others as well as continuous coverage of Riverlife initiatives in local and regional media.• Represent Riverlife at stakeholder and project meetings; frequent presenter to visiting chambers of commerce and city planners; coordinate editorial pieces and talking points for President and Board Chair maintaining consistent and compelling messaging.• Work closely with President, board of directors and development team to create effective individual, corporate and philanthropic fundraising strategies.• Creator and producer of Riverlife’s annual fundraiser gala “Party at the Pier,” which has sold out for the past nine consecutive years and grossed over $2 million since 2010.• Produced ground breaking and ribbon cutting events for 2013 grand reopening celebration of $40 million National Historic Landmark Point State Park and fountain, as well as capital projects at the Mon Wharf Landing, South Shore Riverfront Park at SouthSide Works, The Cafe at Point State Park, and Allegheny Landing.

• Chief writer, editor and photo editor of web content and print materials. Oversaw complete redesign of RiverlifePgh.org to build outreach section for PA and WV waterfront towns, improve readability on mobile devices, SEO, and email collection. Designer of fundraising and marketing print materials.• Chief social media content creator; grew Riverlife’s social media following to over 8,000 followers, e-newsletter subscriber list from 1,200 to over 4,000; and website audience to over 5,000 monthly page views.• Developed and executed community programming including “Riverlife’s Lunchtime Loop” and “#tbd” project under the Fort Duquesne Bridge featuring pop-up gallery.• Producer of video campaigns to tell the stories behind Riverlife projects including Living in a River City community voices, North Shore habitat restoration project, and Energy Flow wind-powered environmental art installation with over 200,000 combined views between promoted posts and organic sharing.

• Developed and administered community-centered programs for children and adults at major public radio station. Programming included working with diverse multigenerational audiences, coordinating workshops, guest speakers, and tours of the station facilities.• Worked closely with Marketing Director and Membership Director to promote engagement efforts through broadcast, print, online, and press releases.• As grant writer for community engagement programming, secured over $50,000 in grant awards over two years, with significant on-air pledge drive and special event fundraising experience.• Served as educator, WYEP FreeZone. Created technology-driven lesson plans and activities for after-school radio journalism workshops aimed at underserved youth.

Daily on-air host for 10am-2pm music program on Adult Album Alternative format station serving the Pittsburgh area. Additional skills included interviewing musicians and guests, recording and editing features for broadcast using Adobe Audition, and contributing to music programming decisions.

Masters, Mass Communication And Journalism

Bachelor, Communication