Evan Frazier ’92

Evan Frazier is the president and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute, an organization aimed at cultivating Black executive leadership to strengthen companies, institutions, and communities. In this new role as of March 2021, Frazier guides the mission of The Advanced Leadership Institute to educate, develop, connect, and position Black leaders for executive advancement.

It was Frazier’s early vision that led to the formation of The Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2017 that focused on building the pipeline of talented African American leaders in Pittsburgh. Under Frazier’s leadership as founding director, the initiative partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business to develop a signature program, the Executive Leadership Academy. Since 2019, this world-class executive development program provides the tools, exposure, and training necessary to prepare Black leaders to contribute to their organizations — and the community – at the highest levels.

Building on early success of TALI in the Greater Pittsburgh Region, Frazier led the strategic expansion of the organization from Initiative to Institute by extending the portfolio of executive development programs to impact a larger pool of Black leaders locally and nationally.

Before joining TALI fulltime, Frazier served as senior vice president of Community Affairs at Highmark Health – a national $18 billion integrated health, finance and delivery network headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to his 11-year tenure at Highmark, he served as president and CEO of the Hill House Association; vice president in Strategic Planning and Finance Communications at PNC Financial Services Group; senior vice president at the Manchester Bidwell Corporation and director of Community Relations for Eat’n Park Restaurants.

Frazier holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Public Policy and Management and completed the Wharton Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the years he also earned executive development certificates from Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management and the Program on Negotiations at Harvard Law School.

In January 2022, Frazier 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. An active member of the community, Frazier has served on more than 30 civic boards over the years. Currently Frazier is a Life Trustee for Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, board member of Bender Leadership Academy, and serves on the executive committee of The Pennsylvania Society.

Founders of NSMH in 1990.  Michael Burkeen ‘91, Evan Frazier ‘92, Alfred Watts ‘91, and Penelope Wint ’92.

During Frazier’s years as an undergraduate student at the Cornell Hotel School, he co-founded the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) along with Michael Burkeen, Alfred Watts, and Penelope Wint. As National Chair of NSMH during his Junior/Senior year, he established NSMH as a 501 (c)3 charitable nonprofit and hosted the Constitutional Convention in 1992 where NSMH established its first 10 chapters. Now more than 30 years later with several dozen chapters, NSMH as a student-run organization continues to play an important role in minority advancement in the hospitality industry. Over the years, Frazier has served in numerous other capacities with NSMH to include Chair Emeritus, Alumni President, and in 2015 he led an effort to establish the NSMH Legacy Fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation and currently serves as its chair. Also, thanks to the leadership and generosity of Ted Teng ‘79, a distinguished Cornell Hotel School alumnus, the Evan S. Frazier ’92 Discretionary Fund was established in 2022 at the Cornell Hotel School to support student services for NSMH, PSP, First Gen, and other students in need.

NSMH founders reunited at the 25th Anniversary in 2014.

“Diligent, Persistent, Dedicated. Those are the words that come to mind when I think about Evan and his lifelong career and achievements. Once he has something in mind to do, he dedicates himself to achieving that goal. And the goal that he has often sought after is to aid in the advancement of minorities in whatever sphere he has been in. For the thirty plus years that I have known him, he has diligently pursued this and has forged new pathways for those coming up behind him. He’s what anyone would call a ‘Trailblazer.’ I’ve been greatly honored to witness and occasionally aid in his efforts.” – Penelope Wint ‘92

“I’ve known Evan for nearly 30 years now. We attended the Cornell Hotel School together when I was an MPS candidate in 1992-93 and Evan was an undergraduate. When I first met Evan, it quickly became evident that he possessed the leadership and relationship building abilities to make a significant impact on any initiative he was involved in. Evan’s unwavering passion and enthusiasm to lift Black professionals is obvious in his list of accomplishments – starting with his involvement with the launch of the National Society of Minority Hoteliers at the Hotel School to his current role as CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute in Pittsburgh. Evan’s work is admirable, and I have always been inspired by his humbleness and willingness to sacrifice himself for others. In my opinion, Evan is the epitome of a consummate servant leader. I cannot think of a more deserving individual of the Hotelie Hall of Fame Award than my friend Evan Frazier. Congratulations!” – Calvin Stovall ‘93 MPS

Evan was featured in the Centennial issue of the Cornell Hotelie Magazine.  Here is an excerpt:

“Entrepreneurs are told to find a problem to solve. In 2016, Evan Frazier ’92, then senior vice president of community affairs at Highmark Health in Pittsburgh, didn’t have to look far—the evidence was all around him. African Americans made up 24 percent of the city’s population, 13 percent of the county’s population, and 11 percent of the region’s population—but less than .1 percent of C-suite leadership. “We had lost ground,” he recalled. “Twenty years earlier, nearly every company had at least one or two top Black executives, but they had just disappeared.”

The problem was twofold. Black professionals who felt stuck in their careers were leaving to find greater opportunity elsewhere. At the same time, Black professionals who had been recruited to Pittsburgh “would come here, look around, and—seeing so few others at a senior level—feel isolated and disconnected,” he said. “They didn’t have a sense of belonging, and so they went someplace else.”

Frazier, who was included on Savoy magazine’s “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” list in 2020, had often discussed the need to change the trajectory of the region’s African Americans with other Black executives. Drawing on those discussions, he wrote a concept paper in the summer of 2016 for an executive leadership program and sought feedback from “about 50 people like myself—corporate leaders, foundation leaders, community leaders—who would be directly impacted by the program. I used the feedback to really think about this in a deeper way,” he said.

The result was TALI (The Advanced Leadership Institute), a program he launched in 2018 to build the pipeline of African American leaders in Pittsburgh. After serving in a volunteer capacity as founding director for the first few years, he became TALI’s president and CEO in 2021 and led its transition from an initiative to an institute.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Frazier has won numerous awards locally and nationally including White House recognition and was one of 2020’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy magazine. In 1998 Frazier was selected as a Luce Scholar where he lived and worked in Asia for a year, he was a national BMe Public Voices Fellow, a member of Sigma Pi Phi (Rho Boule) and is the author of the book, Most Likely To Succeed: The Frazier Formula For Success.

“Evan is one in a million; I think he’s likely one of the most well-rounded nominees to ever receive this honor. The scope and depth of his impact is significant. Although he is soft-spoken, his impact is LOUD. Everything he touches is made better through his efforts including business, nonprofits, communities, and the people whose lives he has enriched through his time, care and mentorship.” – Jeff Broadhurst ‘91

Frazier is married to Dr. Holly Hatcher-Frazier, an educator and national television personality. They have three children: Evan Jr, Nia, and William.