Samantha Balbier has been named the new director of Pitt’s Institute of Politics and the Elsie Hillman Civic Forum. She replaces long-time director Terry Miller, who retired earlier this year after serving the Institute for more than 25 years. Balbier will begin her new role at the Institute in early January.

“Samantha is a high-performing, high-energy professional who already has built an exceptional record of impact and achievement. Her record also clearly reflects a deep commitment to the strength, health and vibrancy of our home region, which is central to the new leadership roles she will be assuming,” said Mark Nordenberg, Pitt’s chancellor emeritus and chair of the Institute of Politics. “I am confident that she is going to be extraordinarily successful in advancing the important missions of the Institute of Politics and the Elsie Hillman Civic Forum and look forward to working with her.”

Balbier currently serves as the executive director of the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP), which provides public policy analysis, education and advocacy services to more than 450 member-organizations from across a 12-county region in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

At GPNP, she established a series of public policy education sessions about the state budget for the nonprofit sector through partnerships with elected officials, transformed GPNP into a resource for media and think tanks during a series of state budget crises and was a visible analyst and advocate.

She has also held several leadership positions in other organizations throughout the Pittsburgh region, including the Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Healthy and Green Initiative, Heinz Endowments, Carriage House Children’s Center and Healthy Home Resources.

Balbier earned undergraduate degrees from Mercyhurst University. She earned her  Master of Social Work degree, with a focus on community organizing and an emphasis on public policy, from Pitt. During her graduate school work at the University, she first developed a connection to the Institute of Politics through her faculty advisor, Moe Coleman, its founding director. She received the 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Social Work earlier this year.