K. Chase Patterson

As a native of Pittsburgh, K. Chase Patterson began to appreciate the power of knowledge from his earliest days. After college at the University of Pittsburgh, Patterson started his professional career at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh. While at the Urban League, he established that Black Male Youth Summit, now known as the Black Male Leadership Development Institute (BMLDI) and taught post-secondary prep classes at Wilkinsburg High School.

In 2015, he opened Society Men’s Grooming Lounge, an upscale barbershop in Pittsburgh’s Historic Hill District. Before becoming CEO of the Urban Academy, Chase served in several capacities, as Trustee, Business Manager, and Chief Operating Officer, and lead the rebranding and relocating the school. Now, as CEO of Pittsburgh’s oldest Charter School, the Urban Academy, Chase has the privilege of working every day to demonstrate that ALL children can learn when immersed in a rigorous, respectful, culturally relevant, and relational learning environment.

Chase served four years as General Chairman of the Pittsburgh NAACP Human Rights Dinner, was Chairman of the Chuck Cooper Foundation and the Adonai Center for Black Males, and has served on the boards of Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh NAACP, and Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project. His leadership has been recognized locally and nationally in Pittsburgh Magazine, Whirl Magazine, the New Pittsburgh Courier, Ebony Magazine, and Black Enterprise.

Chase has worked as a consultant and the Chief Diversity Advisor to the largest Panera Bread Franchisee, Covelli Enterprises, Chase served as the federal liaison to the Departments of Homeland Security, Immigration, State and Education on behalf of Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Doyle. Chase and his son, Chase, live in Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights community.