Provost Joe McCarthy has announced some more staff changes in his office.

Assistant provost for strategy

Laura Winters was been appointed as assistant provost for strategy, effective Nov. 1, and will be a member of the provost’s cabinet.

She previously served in the Office of the Provost as deputy chief of staff and assistant to the provost for special projects.

In her new role, Winters will focus on advising around policy, procedural and operational issues related to academic affairs and in operationalizing strategic initiatives for the office. She also will serve as a liaison with both strategically and operationally focused colleagues from relevant units within the chancellor’s senior leadership team.

In addition, she will serve as the primary point of contact about milestones within the Plan for Pitt across all responsibility areas within the Office of the Provost, and will be the office’s contact to Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement and the Policy Development and Management office. She will continue to supervise academically oriented executive searches in the Office of the Provost.

Winters holds a master of science in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor of science in anthropology from Ohio State University.

Ellerbee leaving Pitt

Daren Ellerbee, who joined the Office of the Provost in January 2022 as the inaugural director of the University Educational Outreach Center, has accepted a job with the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, housed at Johns Hopkins University, and will leave Pitt as of Nov. 15.

As a team director for the center, she will be working in the Pittsburgh mayor’s office to engage constituents around advancing racial wealth equity and climate action with a focus on local Black communities.

Ellerbee joined Pitt in July 2017 as the first director of the Homewood Community Engagement Center.

As director of the outreach center, which is dedicated to building more equitable pathways for all students to gain the potential to enroll at the University of Pittsburgh or other selective colleges and universities, Ellerbee and her team have developed and managed programs like Investing Now, Pitt Horizon Scholars, the Pittsburgh Admissions Collaborative and Pittsburgh Public Scholars.

McCarthy said in his announcement about Ellerbee that he will be working with the Educational Outreach Center team and with leadership in undergraduate studies to plan next steps for the center’s continued success.