Get ready for an unforgettable evening of celebration and inspiration!
Join us on Thursday, October 16, 2025, at the Westin Pittsburgh for the 17th Annual Celebrating Champions Dinner and Auction. This spectacular event, co-hosted by UPMC Senior Services and UPMC Western Behavioral Health, honors the remarkable achievements of individuals and organizations dedicated to building better communities.
For the past sixteen years, we have celebrated the outstanding contributions of our honorees, and this year promises to be one of the best! Mingle with the honorees at a lively cocktail reception, bid on exclusive items in our thrilling silent auction, and indulge in a sumptuous dinner. The highlight of the evening is the awards presentation, where you will be inspired by the extraordinary impact our honorees have made on the world.
Do not miss this incredible opportunity to be part of a night filled with joy, inspiration, and celebration. Mark your calendars and join us for an evening you will not forget!
To discuss how your business can make a valuable impact on our community and benefit from unique marketing options, phone 412-864-3524 or email paneid@upmc.edu.
Proceeds from Celebrating Champions support two remarkable charitable causes: the UPMC Senior Communities Benevolent Care Fund and the UPMC Western Behavioral Health Foundation’s Making Minds Matter Fund. Each fund is dedicated to delivering exceptional programs which benefit countless people in our region and beyond.
UPMC Senior Communities remains deeply committed to providing compassionate care to residents within seven independent and assisted living facilities it owns across the Pittsburgh area. In ongoing efforts to support seniors who have outlived their financial resources, UPMC Senior Communities offers free or discounted care to residents facing financial hardship. The generosity of businesses, organizations, and individuals helps to continue the mission of aiding seniors in need, ensuring they receive the dignity and care they deserve.
The UPMC Western Behavioral Health Foundation is driven by the growth of grassroots fundraising and awareness efforts to reduce the stigma associated with mental health through the Making Minds Matter campaign. These funds enhance patient experiences, advance public policy, and educate the public and providers on mental health issues. Donor contributions reinforce the commitment to reducing the stigma connected with mental health, ensuring it no longer stands as a barrier to getting help. This makes a profound difference in the lives of many individuals, caregivers, and families.
As 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organizations, these two groups accept contributions from families, friends, and community partners to continue the mission of helping others in need.
Since 2009, the event has presented more than $2.4 million in net proceeds to further charitable care.
.jpg?h=250&w=250&rev=8df70c808e6a4eda94593f99eac31d12&hash=03EEEFDA61643B11EE3C4E74A696B4F5)
K. N. Roy Chengappa, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Service Line Chief, Comprehensive Recovery Services
Senior Medical Director of Clinical Innovations in Quality Improvement
Western Psychiatric Hospital and Western Behavioral Health, UPMC
Dr. Roy Chengappa is a professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine. Since 1991, upon completion of a NIH/NIMH supported fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, he has held direct patient care, teaching, research and quality improvement roles and titles. These include attending psychiatrist, director of the Special Studies Center at Mayview State Hospital, service line chief of the Comprehensive Recovery Services of Western Psychiatric Hospital, course director of the Annual Pittsburgh Schizophrenia Conference, senior medical director of Innovations in Quality Improvement at Western Psychiatric Hospital and Western Behavioral Health, and UPMC Beckwith Physician Fellow for Shared Decision Making.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Chengappa has been involved in 45 funded grants supported by NIH-NIMH/NCATS/NIDA/SAMHSA, foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry as a co-investigator, co-principal, or principal investigator. In collaboration with teams across the country, these efforts led to the approval of several medications in current use for persons with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Dr. Chengappa has investigated the use of nutraceuticals and herbal-botanical extracts as potential medicines to treat symptoms of mental illness that are impervious to standard of care medications. Observational and quality improvement projects resultant from direct patient care interactions led him to drive the creation of pragmatic educational and decision-making tools for healthcare professionals, patients, and their caregivers.
Dr. Chengappa’s most gratifying reward as a physician is seeing the smiles and realistic hopes in persons with mental illness and their families when they move forward with their recovery journey and integrate into society.
.jpg?h=250&w=250&rev=c0d5a5cbd364413fb3613e7f955c9b27&hash=468C92D89AC8ED4EA5392CEF0E4F412E)
The Branch
Nancy E. Gale, Executive Director
Under the leadership of Nancy Gale, The Branch supports individuals with psychiatric, intellectual, and/or developmental disabilities, helping them to live, learn, work, and socialize as valued members of the community.
The organization was founded in 1993 as Jewish Residential Services and re-branded as The Branch in November 2022. The name change was motivated by a desire to better represent the current organization, with its broader range of services.
Like many other organizations supporting individuals with disabilities, a group of family members was instrumental in establishing the agency, developing it in response to identified, unmet needs of people with disabilities in the area’s Jewish community. With the continued support of their original founding families, The Branch has expanded its programs from one group home serving eight individuals with mental illness to three programs serving hundreds across diverse segments of the community.
.jpg?h=250&w=250&rev=d95665eccb624782938171a97ee4d384&hash=AB5996D75E6A284DDF2F70049AEFC9A2)
Noelle and David Conover
Founders, Matt’s Maker Space
Matt’s Maker Space is a nonprofit that creates learning spaces in schools, libraries, churches, community centers, hospitals, and outpatient settings. In the six years since it became a nonprofit, more than 40 spaces have been donated, providing more than a million dollars in equipment, training, and programming.
Matt’s Maker Space honors the memory of Matt Conover, an inquisitive 12-year-old boy who loved to build, tinker, and dream. His life was taken by pediatric cancer, and his family wanted to find a way to remember their son and brother and to help kids like Matt learn in new and exciting ways.
