Ilyssa Manspeizer, PhD is the founding CEO of Landforce, an employment social enterprise that combines workforce development and environmental stewardship in the Pittsburgh region. An anthropologist with 30 years of experience working in community-based development and natural resource conservation, Ilyssa has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Binghamton University (State University of New York), an M.Sc. in Nature Conservation from University College London, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Cook College, Rutgers University. Formerly the Executive Director of the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, she has also managed programs and conducted research on conservation and community development in the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Zambia, and the United States.

Ilyssa directed the award-winning Emerald View Park initiative for the MWCDC for 7 years, working closely with the community to build Pittsburgh’s newest regional park on 257 acres of formerly mined, denuded and dumped on land on the steep slopes of Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood. As the CEO of Landforce, Ilyssa shepherded the organization from startup to one with 2 distinct social enterprises that provide training and renewed opportunity to 40 people a year, 15 permanent employees, and an annual budget in excess of $3 million. Since Landforce was awarded a $15.3 million USEPA Community Change grant that was ultimately frozen and terminated by the current federal administration, Ilyssa is guiding the organization through this challenging moment. Throughout her career, Ilyssa has worked toward equity and justice in both work and the environment.