Make the Impossible Possible

BILL STRICKLAND is president and CEO of Manchester Craftsmen Guild and Bidwell Training Center. Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild today offers programs in ceramics, photography, digital arts and painting to over 500 kids a year, as well as 3,400 additional students in the Pittsburgh inner-city school district. Ninety percent of the students receive high school diplomas of which 85% go on enroll in college or secondary education. Bidwell Training Center trains more than 600 adults each semester for professional careers like the culinary arts, pharmacology, and horticultural technology. Through partnerships with major corporations in the area, Bidwell Training Center has helped 73% of its graduates land meaningful full-time employment. Manchester Bidwell is now a breathtaking facility that includes a 350-seat jazz auditorium, a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse covering half a city block, a state-of-the-art chemistry lab, a full-scale ceramics department, and a culinary institute. He has received a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, lectured at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and served on the board of the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.