Patricia (Pat) Pitts — Pat is the former Coordinator of the Western New York Charter School Alliance and Director of Institutional Advancement at the Charter School for Applied Technologies. Pat was also Buffalo Project Manager for the federally-funded Partnership for Innovation for Compensation in Charter Schools (PICCS), where she facilitated professional development and school improvement initiatives in several charter schools. Pat served as Executive Director of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Charter School Initiative and was a founder and board member of the Charter School for Applied Technologies. She was also instrumental in the start-up of the Center for Urban Education at Canisius College.