A photo of ELDI’s board in 2021.
Lenore Williams and East Liberty go way back. Growing up, she remembers riding the streetcars and spending evenings at The Regent Theater (now the Kelly Strayhorn Theater)—memories that root her firmly in the neighborhood she now helps lead as ELDI’s new board president.
“We would walk around to all of the stores, get some ice cream from Isaly’s, and just enjoy being around,” she recalled. “However, as some of the stores went away in the 70s and 80s, it was not quite as appealing to go into East Liberty. But thank goodness things change, and that vibrancy has returned to the neighborhood.”
Williams has played a direct role in bringing that vibrancy back, serving on East Liberty’s Community Planning Committee since 2014 and later as an ELDI board member and vice president of the board. This summer, as ELDI Board President Reverend Doctor Patrice Fowler-Searcy stepped into retirement, Williams took over for her, while Chad Restori assumed the role of vice president.
Alongside her community work, Williams has built a decades-long career in broadcasting. She started at WAMO in the 1970s and now works with American Urban Radio Networks, where she manages programming and collaborates with stations nationwide. Communication, she says, is the thread that ties her professional and community life together.
From 2004 to 2024, Williams was also actively involved in the Baum Centre Initiative, now known as the Baum-Centre Planning Forum, where she helped guide development along the Baum-Centre corridor to reflect local priorities.
We sat down with Williams to hear more about her background, perspective on East Liberty’s transformation, and vision for the neighborhood’s future as she settles into her new role.
Tell us about your connection to East Liberty. What drew you to get involved with ELDI?
East Liberty has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was born in Homewood, went to school at Taylor Allderdice, and my family went to Peabody, where my father taught. I went to church here, socialized here—it’s always been an integral part of who I am. So when I learned about the community planning meetings, I got involved. Eventually, I joined the board, and it’s been more than ten years now.
Over that time, what role have you played on the board?
My main focus has always been community involvement, ensuring residents are part of the conversation and that people who have been here a long time have a voice in what happens. ELDI has always emphasized that legacy residents need to be involved in their community’s future.
When you look back on your legacy in East Liberty and in community development, what contributions are you most proud of?
One of the things I’m proud that we have been able to accomplish is that you can’t point to a building here and say, “That’s the affordable housing.” Because everyone, no matter their income level, deserves to live in something that looks wonderful and well-maintained.
38% of rental housing in East Liberty is secured as long-term affordable, but you would never be able to tell that if you drive around the neighborhood. Next to that, we’ve been able to help many people own homes in the community—people who never would have considered that before. Through our Affordable Homeownership Program and work with our spin-off organization, Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, more families have been able to buy homes, put down roots, and age here. That creates legacy, and that’s what makes a true community.
I’m also proud of the work I was able to do with the Baum-Centre corridor. For a long time, there was no real oversight—Shadyside, Oakland, Friendship, East Liberty, and Bloomfield were all working separately, and no one was talking with each other. Through the Baum-Centre Initiative, we were able to bring residents and organizations together to have a say in what was happening in their community. That collaboration is something I look back on with pride.
One of the things I’m proud that we have been able to accomplish is that you can’t point to a building here and say, “That’s the affordable housing.” Because everyone, no matter their income level, deserves to live in something that looks wonderful and well-maintained.
You’re stepping into a new leadership role after Rev. Dr. Patrice Fowler-Searcy’s long tenure as board president. What have you learned from her?
Patrice has been my pastor, my colleague, and my friend. Her patience, dedication, and devotion are qualities I hope to live up to. She’s been such an inspiration and a calming force in her leadership. My job, as it has been before, and as Rev. Dr. Patrice Fowler-Searcy has always done, is to make sure that the tools are in place and the support is there to continue building the vision of a vibrant, mixed-income community outlined in East Liberty’s community plans.
What do you see as ELDI’s priorities moving forward?
There’s still housing development that needs to happen and opportunities for homeownership we want to expand. But more broadly, it’s about making sure everyone feels included and that nobody misses the opportunity to share their voice. East Liberty is growing, and that’s not a bad thing. We just want to ensure that we are maintaining the roots and diversity that have always made this community strong.
Finally, what does community development mean to you?
Community is home. It’s where people feel safe, welcome, and proud to live. It’s where you have a mix of people, businesses, arts, and culture that reflect everyone. That’s what we’re building in East Liberty—a place where everyone belongs and feels at home.