Pitt hosted this year’s Black Alumni Collective National Conference

The University of Pittsburgh and the Pitt African American Alumni Council (AAAC) welcomed 200 alumni, students and advocates from more than 88 colleges and universities to campus May 28-31 for the 2026 Black Alumni Collective National Conference, marking the first time the biennial gathering has come to Pittsburgh.

With the theme "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Black Advocacy from Campus to Corporate to Congress," the conference brought together leaders, students, faculty and community advocates to strengthen, influence and create meaningful progress across education, industry, government and other areas.

Attendees explored sessions on strategies for advancing in the workplace, negotiating worth and building inclusive teams, grassroots mobilization, personal branding and wellness, running for office, lobbying and coalition-building.

"The Black Alumni Collective Conference served as a powerful opportunity to learn, grow and deepen our collective accountability to the ongoing advancement, empowerment and success of the Black community," said AAAC President Kimberly Williams. "Our Pitt Black alumni proudly welcomed family and friends from universities across the country to our home in Pittsburgh for a family reunion centered on celebrating fellowship, rekindling lasting connections and reinforcing the shared sense of purpose, pride and community that continues to unite us across generations."

"With this conference, our vision is to create a space where Black alumni can come together and build something greater than any one of us could build alone," said Allyson Reaves, co-founder of the Black Alumni Collective. "This conference showed us exactly what that looks like in practice - the energy, the connections, the sense of family that forms when you gather people united by shared purpose and a sense of hope."

For Nancy Merritt, Pitt's vice chancellor for alumni relations, the weekend embodied what the blue and gold community is all about.

"The BAC Conference is a wonderful example of what happens when passionate, purpose-driven people come together around a shared commitment to community," Merritt said. "Pitt was proud to open its doors to leaders from across the country and to be part of this gathering."

See more photos from the weekend.

In the top photo, Clyde Wilson Pickett, Pitt's vice chancellor for institutional engagement and wellbeing, talks with Janet Stovall, a Davidson College Board of Trustees member and BAC keynote speaker.