Libby Powers, MS is a Research Assistant for HERL. Libby graduated from Duquesne University with a Master of Science in Leadership and Professional Advancement in 2018. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Communication, Media, and Technology with a minor in Marketing from La Roche University in 2013. Libby has worked within the Pittsburgh area nonprofit sector for the past 22 years serving multiple healthcare and cross-disability organizations such as the Spina Bifida Association of Western PA, The Woodlands Foundation, Passavant Hospital Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, ACHIEVA, and the Consumer Health Coalition. In 2016, she was a contributing author of “A Teen’s Guide for Medical Transition”, developed and published by two undergraduate students from the School of Innovation and Design at Carnegie Mellon University through a community partnership with ACHIEVA and the Wordout Grant Program through the Clinical Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2005, Libby received the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefitting Local Communities.
She is currently on the Arc of Greater Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, and an active member of the Stakeholder Advisory Board for the All of Us PA Research Study at the University of Pittsburgh. Through her work and community involvement, she hopes to assist in the development and advancement of healthcare systems, assistive technology, and other related services for those in marginalized populations.
Fun Tech Fact Questions & Answers:
Q: Mainstream tech device you can’t live without? Why?
A: My Apple iPhone because it instantly connects me to the rest of the world at a tap of a button. It's like a mini-computer.
Q: What was your first cell phone?
A: A Nokia with a physical keyboard with buttons on the front of the phone.
Q: What mainstream tech is at the top of your Wishlist?
A: A new MacBook Pro because the one I have now is a much older model.
Q: What mainstream tech device would you be and why?
A: I would be Siri the digital assistant because she is a wealth of useless information that can sometimes be helpful to know while navigating the real world. I also feel like my brain is full of knowledge and information that can sometimes be useful and useless at the same time.