Misti McKeehen and Kristen Maser Michaels were recognized for their community activism

Pitt staffers Misti McKeehen and Kristen Maser Michaels are included in theincline.com’s Who’s Next listing of the top 20 up-and-comers under age 40 among local community leaders and activists.

McKeehen, left, is director of PittServes, where she oversees student volunteerism programs that have logged more than 400,000 service hours per year with more than 300 community partners. She helps with strategic planning for the Pitt Pantry; the student-run campus thrift store; the Student Office of Sustainability; Pitt Make a Difference Day; International Alternative Break Service and other programming.

Michaels is executive director of the Congress of Neighboring Communities (CONNECT) at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

The organization works with the City of Pittsburgh and the 39 municipalities that create the urban core of Allegheny County to find ways they can work together across political boundaries. Through CONNECT, Michaels also helped develop a community paramedic program to identify and help patients who frequently call 911. She is the co-founder of the Free Store Wilkinsburg and a committee member for JCC Big Night and Wilkinsburg Community Conversations.