New Neighbor Advocate Honoree: Ebtehal Badawi

Ebtehal Badawi, a Saudi-born artist with a biology degree, transitioned to art therapy after earning a master’s in Industrial Hygiene. Known for her colorful, uplifting art, she designed anti-bullying posters and participated in art shows in Pittsburgh. She’s also a writer and photographer, connecting with nature and sharing her experiences.

As a TEDx speaker in 2022, Ebtehal is the founder of Pittsburgh Builds Bridges, an initiative promoting diversity and unity in Pittsburgh through art. With over 4,000 participants working towards peace and harmony, she is currently in the process of applying for art therapy programs.

New Neighbor Champion: Doug Heuck

Douglas Heuck has been a Pittsburgh journalist since 1985, spending 20 years at the Pittsburgh Press and Post-Gazette, mainly as an investigative reporter. He penned 13 newspaper series, ranging from living on the streets disguised as a homeless man to the only in-depth interview in the later years of polio pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk. His newspaper series received several national awards and three Keystone Distinguished Writing Awards, given annually for the best journalism in Pennsylvania. His series on the homeless was cited in the landmark media law case “Food Lion vs. ABC News.”

In 1995, in order to provide the best possible information to spur Pittsburgh’s recovery, Heuck created PG Benchmarks, a newspaper project which compared Pittsburgh with 14 other metro areas in 75 measures. He continued to run that project – in different forms until 2022.

He left the newspaper in 2005 and founded Pittsburgh Quarterly magazine, judged by the Press Club of Western PA to be the region’s best magazine every year since it began publishing in 2006. Pittsburgh Quarterly also has won two prestigious Folio Eddie Award, the global magazine industry’s biggest context for editorial excellence.

In 2023, he founded a new organization, Pittsburgh Tomorrow, which seeks to reverse the Pittsburgh region’s population loss by engaging and attracting a new generation of Pittsburgh “Pioneers” who will coalesce to make the Greater Pittsburgh area the best place to live in the U.S.