Bill Strickland Transitions to the Strickland Global Leadership Institute
Bill Strickland transitions to the Strickland Global Leadership Institute
Pittsburgh, PA. (1/09/2025) - Bill Strickland will now dedicate his efforts to the Strickland Global Leadership Institute (SGLI), a nonprofit he founded to support the network of vocational training & arts education centers guided by his vision, facilitate the creation of new centers, and train people in how to start and lead these centers. The move follows Strickland’s retirement from Manchester Bidwell Corporation on January 1, 2025.
At SGLI, Strickland will serve as the Founder & Vice Chair. He will focus on driving support for the organization and helping current and future centers guided by his vision maximize their impact. Joining SGLI full-time provides Strickland with the opportunity to continue his life’s work of alleviating “cancer of the human spirit” through beautiful environments, caring instructors, supportive & challenging programming, and an overall culture of hope and personal transformation.
“It is wonderful to take this next step in continuing to spread the work begun at Manchester Bidwell around the world,” said Strickland. “SGLI is uniquely positioned to help communities invest in growth and wellness with pride, joy, and hope. I am excited to share my experiences and knowledge to help current and future centers transform lives.”
There are now 17 centers in the United States and abroad formed with Strickland’s methodology of unapologetically providing top-quality facilities and training to underserved communities.
Since its founding, SGLI has focused on developing a refined model for launching new centers that amplifies the successes of past center creation efforts. SGLI will also work collaboratively with existing centers to provide ongoing support that advances the unique missions and impact of each organization. It will also establish an academy to train people in how to start and lead centers. The organization is run by Anthony Cascione, SGLI’s President.
“The work of the centers animated by Bill’s vision has powerfully positive implications for communities within and outside the United States. With Bill’s leadership and expertise, SGLI is ready to help existing centers expand their impact and bring the transformative methods Bill has pioneered to more communities,” said Amy Atkinson, Board Chair of both SGLI and the Hope Center for Arts & Technology in Sharon, PA.
Strickland founded the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in 1968 from a rowhouse in Pittsburgh’s North Side to provide opportunities for young people to learn ceramics in a supportive, nurturing environment. He would later merge his arts education program with an adult vocational training school and operate both programs together under the same roof, as Manchester Bidwell Corporation.
Manchester Bidwell would go on to become the pioneering example of Bill’s vision for how to alleviate “cancer of the human spirit” through beautiful environments, caring instructors, supportive, challenging programming, and an overall culture of hope and personal transformation. Today, the center serves hundreds of young people and adults every year through vocational training & arts education in a 60,000 square foot facility complete with a commercial-grade teaching kitchen, 30,000 square foot greenhouse, and a jazz hall & Grammy Award-winning recording studio.
In the years since founding Manchester Bidwell, Bill and his vision gained international acclaim. For his work in vocational training and arts education, Bill earned the MacArthur Fellows Genius Award (1996), the Skoll Award (2007), the Goi Peace Award (2011), and more than 25 honorary doctorate degrees. His vision is the subject of four Harvard Business School Case Studies and is described (with piano accompaniment by Herbie Hancock) in his 2002 Ted Talk. Bill is the author of Make the Impossible Possible with Vince Rause.
Bill has guided the creation of nonprofit vocational training & arts education centers in the United States and abroad, including centers in San Francisco, Boston, New Haven, Cleveland, Buffalo, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Israel.
“I am so excited for Bill Strickland to take this next step in doing what he started on the North Side in Pittsburgh: spreading his vision to help people find jobs and make a positive difference in other cities and communities around the world. The Strickland Global Leadership Institute is a wonderful extension of the work Bill began at Manchester Bidwell to help other communities start their own centers and make a positive impact on their most important asset, their people,” said Kevin Acklin, Pittsburgh Penguins’ President of Business Operations and Board Chair of Manchester Bidwell Corporation.