The Story of the Pittsburgh People Network
About Us
The Pittsburgh People Network is a grassroots project created by folks who love their neighborhoods and believe that what makes a community special is its people. We’re a small team of locals and volunteers connecting Pittsburghers to small businesses that walk the walk when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice.
It started with a Thread
In April 2025, local novelist EJ Post was trying to shop more intentionally—looking for a comprehensive list of Pittsburgh businesses that aligned with her values. When she couldn’t find one, she started building her own. She posted on Threads, seeking volunteers to help with entering data to support the process.
That post caught the eye of Vee Vargas, a web designer and recent Pittsburgh transplant. Caregiving at home and new to the city, Vee had been quietly searching for community online. When she saw EJ’s thread, she thought, “Nooo, there’s an easier way to do this,” and offered to help build a better system.
Developing the Idea
With the help of longtime Bellevue local Anne Fleming Polinski, a branding and marketing professional, the vision started to take form. They decided on a few goals:
Help people “vote with their dollars” by supporting value-aligned local businesses
Boost visibility for entrepreneurs from marginalized communities
Support businesses that uphold ethical, inclusive, and non-discriminatory practices
Strengthen community care through intentional spending and connection
Putting in the Work
Over the next few weeks, Vee and EJ emailed back and forth, and Anne and EJ collaborated over coffee. Vee built the site and database infrastructure and created tutorials so others could help maintain it. We tested the site, gave feedback, and used local knowledge to compile the first 250+ entries in the directory. From there, we streamlined the database of folks could easily search for businesses in their neighborhoods, by categories, or online.
Join Us!
This is a labor of love built for and by the Pittsburgh community. Want to help? You can recommend a business or explore the directory and shop with intention, keeping your hard-earned dollars in our community.