headshot of Sidney Kushner with Connecting Champions friend, Camden

Sidney Kushner (he/him)

Founder & Executive Director

Sidney grew up in Pittsburgh and founded Connecting Champions as a 19-year-old in memory of his friend Lauren. He graduated with a degree in Applied Mathematics from Brown University and was named a top 100 student entrepreneur in the nation by Stanford University. In 2021, he gave a TED talk: “How one question can forever change the life of a child with cancer.” He has been honored in Pittsburgh’s inaugural class of 30 Under 30, featured in Harvard Business Review and Forbes, and highlighted as a guest writer in Pittsburgh Magazine. He also enjoys building specialized Outcomes Reporting software and Donor Databases for nonprofits in Pittsburgh.

Fun Fact:

“One day in high school, my psychology teacher gave us a challenge: whoever memorized the most digits of Pi (the mathematical number) in one day would win an actual pie from the teacher! I really wanted that pie, so I went home and memorized as many numbers as I possibly could. In class the following day I remembered 101 digits!

…my teacher forgot the pie.”

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Or contact Friendship@ConnectingChampions.org / 412.376.3755