East Liberty nonprofit Ascender names new executive director

PITTSBURGH — East Liberty-based nonprofit business incubator Ascender named Anneliese Martinez its new executive director six months after its former CEO stepped down.

Martinez was previously the senior director of the Andy Warhol Museum’s Pop District, a long-term initiative aiming to transform six block on the North Side. She is also a longstanding local business consultant, primarily through her consulting firm A Martinez Works LLC, which she founded in 2016.

Beyond consulting, she has worked heavily in education, including as a facilitator for both theUniversity of PittsburghandCarnegie Mellon University. In 2020, she co-founded the Pittsburgh Learning Collaborative, a regional advocacy group for childhood education.