Brittany Reno, MSUS ‘22
Photo c/o Jim Harris, Pittsburgh Business Times
When Brittany Reno, MSUS ‘22 was preparing to graduate with her Masters of Sustainability in April 2022, she was simultaneously maintaining the Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization (SNO) that she founded, serving as councilperson for the Sharpsburg Borough, and running for mayor of said borough. Now, as she kicks off her first term as mayor, she is keeping sustainability, equity, and civic engagement top of mind.
Reno grew up on a dairy farm in the middle of Butler County, 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. “I wanted to move to the city because I was fascinated by the way cities work,” says Reno, who opted to attend the University of Pittsburgh to study media & professional communications with a concentration in corporate & community relations. Following graduation, she lived in a number of rented apartments around the city: “My rent was getting bumped up to the point where I could no longer justify it and I had some savings. I bought a house in a town I had never heard of off Craigslist. And that is how I came to fall in love with Sharpsburg.”
Whatever Craigslist kismet might have been at play, it is clear that Reno was destined to find this place. After moving to Sharpsburg and loving what she found, she decided to work to make it an even better place to live. She started collaborating with neighbors, elected officials, small business owners, and other stakeholders to determine what people wanted to see happen in the Sharpsburg community—that is how the Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization (SNO) was born. Per Reno, “Sometimes we work on environmental projects. Sometimes we do public art initiatives. At the core of everything, we’re working on advancing equity and sustainability and [ensuring] that residents lead that charge.”
After years as a grassroots, ‘meet-where-there-is-space’ type of organization, SNO now has its own brick and mortar space in the Sharpsburg Business District, which they lend to other community organizations and residents in need of meeting space. But that’s just the beginning of Reno’s commitment to improving Sharpsburg. Along the way, she began to cultivate an interest in the local political scene:
“I started going to council meetings when I was 25. I had only lived in the community for two years at that point. There was a really hard-working council, some of whom had been there for decades. But nobody was attending the meetings and none of the public were engaged in the local government. A seat opened up on council because someone resigned so I submitted a letter of interest and I got the seat.”
She served on the council for several years before she decided that running for Mayor of Sharpsburg was the next logical step. “I’ve always been pretty introverted and shy, so I never thought I would find myself in public service in this capacity.” But ultimately, her love for the community of Sharpsburg won out. She saw an opportunity to help engage more citizens in the improvement of Sharpsburg from a civic standpoint. With that in mind, Reno ran for mayor with a slate of council people that focused on getting citizens to vote in the campaign—twice going door to door to a community of 3,300 people.
On the campaign trail, Reno asked community members what they cared about, what they’d like to see in the community, and what has been causing them stress. She found that the answers tended to be similar despite party lines: “Everyone cares about our flooding problem…or that it is safe to walk around the community whether you’re walking, biking, using a wheelchair, or pushing a stroller. People want thriving small businesses in the business district. There are so many areas of consensus in the community that there is plenty to work on.” After serving her long terms as council person and council president, Reno became the first woman and the youngest person to ever serve as the Mayor of Sharpsburg Borough.
Now, in her role as mayor, Reno is working to influence sustainability and equity in the region while also encouraging civic participation to others: “I’ve seen firsthand the power of one person or even a small group of people who care and show up to make a difference in the community. Getting more people involved is a huge priority that has implications in every other area that we’re working on.” She notes that her Chatham experience has helped ground her work in theory and community development history—“It has made me more effective [at communicating] how things like mobility improvements, food access, air quality, and storm-water management can positively impact a person.”
“I want people across the region to know that they’re not powerless to change the systems that they live in. They actually have quite a lot of power to affect change just by showing up and speaking their opinion in rooms where that opinion might not otherwise be represented.”
Since becoming mayor, she has continued her work running the SNO—all Sharpsburg all the time. But that doesn’t mean her work days ever look the same: “Sometimes I’m meeting with residents or business owners. Other days, I’m working on grant applications to try to support the projects or programs we are working on. I’m often walking around the community and talking to people to see what they’re up to and what they’re caring about. There’s always something to do and learn in this position.”
Before returning to her busy schedule, Reno shares her advice to those who want to start positively impacting their communities. Here is what she offers: