TL;DR: Evan Frazier is a Pittsburgh-based corporate executive, nonprofit leader, entrepreneur, and author best known as the founder and President and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI). A Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University alumnus, Frazier has spent decades working to diversify the C-suite in America, earning national recognition including placement on Savoy magazine’s “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” list in 2020 and induction into Cornell’s Hotelie Hall of Fame in 2023.
He noticed a number that stopped him cold. African Americans made up 24 percent of Pittsburgh’s population — yet held less than 0.1 percent of the city’s C-suite positions. For Evan Frazier, then Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at one of Pittsburgh’s most powerful health networks, that statistic wasn’t just troubling. It was a call to action he couldn’t ignore.
“We had lost ground,” Frazier later recalled. “Twenty years earlier, nearly every company had at least one or two top Black executives, but they had just disappeared.”
What followed was not a complaint or a conference panel — it was a concept paper. Then a phone call with 50 community leaders. Then an institute. The man who spotted the problem decided he would be part of the solution.
That’s Evan Frazier in a nutshell: soft-spoken, deeply strategic, and quietly transformative. While he may not dominate tabloid headlines or fill arenas, his influence runs through boardrooms, university halls, and the careers of hundreds of Black professionals who have passed through the programs he built. In Pittsburgh and beyond, his name carries real weight — and that weight was earned one deliberate step at a time.
Where It All Began: Growing Up in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh shaped Evan Frazier before he ever shaped Pittsburgh. He grew up in a city known more for grit than glamour — a place, as he describes it, that is “not flashy.” Hard work wasn’t a concept he learned in a classroom. It was woven into the culture around him, passed down through the work ethic of a city that rebuilds itself generation after generation.
“My parents had the mentality that if there’s something you want, well, you work for it,” Frazier has said. That philosophy never left him.
When it came time for college, Frazier set his sights high. He enrolled at Cornell University’s prestigious School of Hotel Administration, graduating in 1992. It was a formative chapter — not just academically, but organizationally. During his undergraduate years, Frazier co-founded the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) alongside fellow students Michael Burkeen, Alfred Watts, and Penelope Wint. What started as a campus initiative became a national nonprofit. By 1992, Frazier had established NSMH as a 501(c)3 charitable organization and hosted its Constitutional Convention, launching its first ten chapters. Today, the organization operates dozens of chapters across the country and continues to advance minority representation in the hospitality industry.
Co-founding a national nonprofit before you’ve even graduated? Not a bad start.
A Career Built Across Sectors
After Cornell, Frazier pursued a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Public Policy and Management — a credential that signaled where his ambitions were heading. He wasn’t chasing just one career lane. He wanted to understand business, policy, and community all at once.
His professional journey reflects exactly that breadth. He served as Director of Community Relations at Eat’n Park Restaurants, then as Senior Vice President at the Manchester Bidwell Corporation. He moved into financial services as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Finance Communications at PNC Financial Services Group, before stepping into the role of President and CEO of the Hill House Association.
Each position added a new dimension. Corporate strategy. Community development. Finance. Nonprofit leadership. By the time Frazier joined Highmark Health — a national $18 billion integrated health, finance, and delivery network headquartered in Pittsburgh — he arrived with a toolkit most executives spend entire careers trying to assemble.
At Highmark, he served as Senior Vice President of Community Affairs for eleven years. Over that tenure, he was instrumental in accelerating the company’s corporate giving, community programs, foundation activities, and market engagement. It was significant, meaningful work. But something bigger was taking shape in his mind.
The Idea That Became an Institute
In the summer of 2016, Frazier sat down and wrote a concept paper. It outlined a vision for an executive leadership program designed specifically to develop Black professionals for the highest levels of corporate leadership. He shared the draft with approximately 50 community, corporate, and foundation leaders — gathering feedback, stress-testing the idea, and refining his approach.
By 2018, that concept paper had become The Advanced Leadership Initiative (TALI), launched in Pittsburgh with a clear mission: build the pipeline of African American leaders in the region.
The initiative partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business to develop its signature program, the Executive Leadership Academy — a world-class, cohort-based program providing tools, exposure, and training to prepare Black professionals for executive advancement. The program has been running since 2019.
Then, in 2020, the Richard King Mellon Foundation awarded TALI a $1 million grant to support and scale its mission. That funding helped elevate TALI from an initiative to a full-fledged institute. In March 2021, Frazier stepped down from Highmark and became TALI’s President and CEO — a full-time commitment to the work he’d been building on the side for years.
The growth since has been remarkable. As of 2023, approximately 180 professionals have completed one of TALI’s leadership programs. Fifty-nine corporations and organizations in the Pittsburgh region actively support the institute, including BNY Mellon, Giant Eagle, Highmark Health, PNC Financial Services Group, and UPMC. TALI has also launched a national version of its Executive Leadership Academy, extending its reach beyond Pittsburgh and deepening its impact across American business.
Awards and Recognition: A Legacy Taking Shape
Frazier’s contributions have not gone unnoticed. In 2020, Savoy magazine named him one of its “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” — a national recognition that put a Pittsburgh name on a very prominent list.
In 1998, he was selected as a Luce Scholar, a prestigious program that placed him in Asia for a year to broaden his professional and cultural experience. He is also a national BMe Public Voices Fellow and a member of Sigma Pi Phi (Rho Boule).
His most recent honor came in 2023, when he was inducted into the Cornell Hotel Society’s Hotelie Hall of Fame — a milestone he described as deeply meaningful, not least because it returned him to the campus where so much of his story began. A discretionary fund in his name, the Evan S. Frazier ’92 Discretionary Fund, was also established at Cornell’s Hotel School in 2022 to support student services for NSMH, first-generation students, and others in need.
Beyond national recognition, Frazier has also received White House recognition for his work and has served on more than 30 civic boards over the course of his career.
Business Ventures and Boardroom Influence
Leadership for Frazier doesn’t stop at the institute’s door. In January 2022, he was appointed to the board of directors for Dollar Bank and its parent company, Dollar Mutual Bancorp, where he serves on the Audit, Enterprise Risk, and Community Relations committees. He is also a Life Trustee for Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, a board member of Bender Leadership Academy, and serves on the executive committee of The Pennsylvania Society.
These aren’t ceremonial roles. Frazier brings the same strategic, mission-driven energy to the boardroom that he brings to TALI — and his peers have noticed. As fellow Cornell alumnus Jeff Broadhurst put it: “Although he is soft-spoken, his impact is LOUD. Everything he touches is made better through his efforts.”
In addition to his organizational work, Frazier is the author of Most Likely to Succeed: The Frazier Formula For Success, published in 2008. The book introduced his personal success framework with the goal of inspiring youth and young adults to achieve their potential.
Personal Life: Family, Faith, and the Long Game
Behind the board seats and program launches is a family man who values balance — even if he’s had to learn that lesson the hard way.
“At some points, I have put too many things on my shoulders,” Frazier has admitted openly. “These challenges helped me learn about the importance of effective delegation.”
Frazier is married to Dr. Holly Hatcher-Frazier, an educator and national television personality. Together, they have three children: Evan Jr., Nia, and William. For someone who operates at the level Frazier does, he speaks about family with the same intentionality he brings to organizational strategy — it isn’t an afterthought.
His connection to Pittsburgh, too, is personal in a way that transcends professional loyalty. He sees his city as a testing ground for ideas that matter. “Pittsburgh is a city that’s big enough to make a global impact with ambitious projects, but it’s also small enough for meaningful, mission-driven work to pick up speed and gain recognition.”
The Legacy He’s Building
Ask Frazier about legacy and he gives you an answer that doesn’t sound like a rehearsed elevator pitch. It sounds like a man who has thought carefully about what it means to leave something real behind.
“I hope to continue diversifying the C-suite in Pittsburgh,” he has said. “I’d like to leave a legacy that you can dream big and achieve your vision if you’re deeply committed. There will always be roadblocks and challenges, but if you are dedicated, willing to persevere, and have the right people in your corner, then there’s nothing you can’t do.”
That ethos — ambitious but grounded, visionary but practical — runs through everything Frazier does. He didn’t just identify a problem with Black representation in corporate America. He built an institution to solve it, recruited dozens of major companies to support it, and gave up a senior vice president title to run it full-time.
That’s not a side project. That’s a life’s work.
Penelope Wint, who co-founded NSMH with Frazier at Cornell more than three decades ago, perhaps puts it best: “He’s what anyone would call a ‘Trailblazer.’ He has diligently pursued the advancement of minorities in whatever sphere he has been in, and has forged new pathways for those coming up behind him.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Evan Frazier
Who is Evan Frazier?
Evan Frazier is a Pittsburgh-based corporate executive, nonprofit leader, entrepreneur, and author. He is best known as the founder and President and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI), an organization dedicated to cultivating Black executive leadership across America. He is a Cornell University alumnus (Class of 1992) and holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
What is The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI)?
TALI is a nonprofit institute, based in Pittsburgh and partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, that develops Black professionals for executive advancement. Its signature program, the Executive Leadership Academy, has been running since 2019. As of 2023, approximately 180 professionals have completed TALI programs, supported by 59 corporate partners including BNY Mellon, PNC Financial Services Group, and UPMC.
What awards has Evan Frazier received?
Frazier was named one of the “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” by Savoy magazine in 2020. He was inducted into Cornell’s Hotelie Hall of Fame in 2023. He has also received White House recognition for his community work and was selected as a Luce Scholar in 1998.
Did Evan Frazier write a book?
Yes. Frazier published Most Likely to Succeed: The Frazier Formula For Success in 2008. The book introduced his personal success framework aimed at inspiring youth and young adults to achieve their goals.
Is Evan Frazier married?
Yes. Evan Frazier is married to Dr. Holly Hatcher-Frazier, an educator and national television personality. They have three children together: Evan Jr., Nia, and William.
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