It also permits organizations to operate under its 501c3 nonprofit status, enabling them to establish a track record of programs for funders and the public. Currently, Tides is assisting 350 different projects across the nation. Vance Yoshida, Tides director of external relations, said Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania asked the center to establish an office here in 1999. The Tides Center of Western Pennsylvania will probably employ two people initially and will likely be located in the Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown, said Mr. Yoshida, who has personally come to Pittsburgh on a monthly basis this year and plans his next visit for January. He said the Pittsburgh office, which will also serve West Virginia and Ohio, is Tides' first regional site outside the organization's California headquarters.
Tides also has a Washington, D.C., office.
Tides has worked for many years with several Pittsburgh-based foundations, including the Heinz Endowments, Downtown. Mr. Yoshida said Tides is currently assisting a handful of Pittsburgh efforts including Sustainable Pittsburgh, the Youth Standards Project and the Collaborative Evaluation Project. Sustainable Pittsburgh, Downtown, is a nonpartisan civic forum that advocates integration for economic growth, environmental health and social equity that originally incubated at the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Since March, it has operated independently, under Tides' 501c3, said Court Gould, executive director. The Tides Center enables a group of folks who have a good idea or see a need in the community to move with agility to get up and running as a nonprofit.