I helped to found a group called “Hampton for All” which is a community resource for educators, parents, and students in our community. We have a visible presence at our school board promoting protection for all marginalized groups in the town, including trans students.
Meet the Candidate
Welcome to the 2025 election season series ‘Political Q&A’ – interviews with candidates throughout Pennsylvania. Since 2013, we’ve published nearly 150 of these interviews. We use an email Q&A format to allow the candidates to speak directly to you, the readers.
Candidates can be anywhere in Pennsylvania running for any level of office. Please note that these are not necessarily endorsements, more of an opportunity for candidates to connect with the LGBTQ community, progressives neighbors, and others with an interest in Pennsylvania. If your candidate would like to participate, contact us pghlesbian at gmail dot com. We welcome candidates at all levels of government across the entire Commonwealth. We publish in the order that they are returned and will accept Q&A’s until Election Day.
Please note that Pennsylvania has over 500 school districts. We’d like to talk with candidates in any one of them. Tell your district’s story statewide.
Important to note that I do not edit the responses, including their framing of LGBTQ identities.
These Q&A’s are lengthy because there is a lot of ground to cover. This year, I created about 20 questions per candidate. This is and should be a deep dive because you deserve as much information as possible.
By participating in this Q&A series, candidates are saying that they
- are an LGBTQIA+ ally, specifically supporting equality and dignity for transgender persons
- identify as pro-choice
I was introduced to Lissa in 2020 when she completed our Q&A for her race. Since then I’ve seen her through various political and organizing events. I remain impressed with the fact that she shows up. That’s the goal right? People showing up.
Name: Lissa Geiger Shulman
Pronouns: she/her
Office Sought in This Election: County Council, District 3
How do you describe your identity? I am a white, cisgender, heterosexual woman. I am a mom, a former public school teacher, an advocate, and a community leader.
Tell us about your district. What is a hidden gem most people might not know about?
Our Rivertowns – Millvale, Etna, Sharpsburg, and Aspinwall – have beautiful outdoor riverfront parks to enjoy. Further North, district 3 touches three county parks – Deer Lakes Park, Heartwood Acres, and North Park. There are numerous trails through the district, from Fox Chapel borough trails to the Rachel Carson Trail that spans the district, there are many opportunities to get outside and be surrounded by nature. There are also several trail expansion projects underway to connect into larger trail systems that connect with other cities. One of my personal favorite parts of several neighborhoods in the district in communities like Reserve, Millvale, Etna, and Shaler are the incredibly scenic views of downtown, often right within our residential streets.
I also love the food and dining options: Tu y Yo Cafe on Harts Run Road has the best Empanadas in Pittsburgh. Swgaat across the street has some of the best Indian food north of the City. Some other favorites include: Rear End Gastropub in Etna, Millvale Market, Treat Down the Street in Aspinwall, Three Brothers Bagels in Shaler, Pasquale’s Pizza in Hampton, and Narcisi Winery in West Deer. There really are too many to name!
If (federal) funding is slashed, our local government will have to pare back to provide only essential services. This will be taxing on everyone.
Questions and Answers
What professional accomplishment gives you the most pride?
As an advocate for early childhood education, I led coalitions that won $100 million in new state funding for pre-k education, quality affordable childcare, and evidence-based home visiting programs. In addition to successfully advocating for budget investments, working in coalitions was great preparation for the skills I will need to be part of a 15-member Council. Understanding the give and take necessary to achieve cooperation and align goals is what will make me an effective County Councilmember.
Please name one County Council decision that you agree with and one that you would handle differently.
I agree with the county Campaign Finance Reform ordinances limiting the size of contributions from individuals and political committees (PACs). The county also explicitly allows the spending of PAC funds on child care, something that the state of Pennsylvania is woefully behind on. As a mom, I have utilized PAC funds for child care as a candidate in my past run in 2020 and 2025.
There are few things that I believe County Council has gotten wrong in its final actions. Even some of Council’s most contraversial votes over the last couple of years have ultimately gone the way that I would have voted. I would like to see Council Members compromise and act swiftly on permit fees for air quality monitoring, an issue which Council recently sent back to committee rather than vote on.
Please tell me about your familiarity with the LGBTQ community in Allegheny County.
The LGBTQ community in Allegheny County is a diverse community with many intersectional issues – this has been both a strength and a challenge in terms of advocacy and representation in local government.
I am proud that many neighborhoods in District 3 are cultivating safe, welcoming communities with LGBTQ representation in local government, and they are attracting growing numbers of LGBTQ residents. The region’s family-focused, youth-centered Pride in the Park celebration is held in District 3 and is envied by several surrounding communities. In Hampton Township, a group called Hampton for All is building a safe, welcoming community for those in the LGBTQ community. As a council member, I hope to support these grassroots groups who are working at the most local level to show representation and advocate for safety and a sense of belonging for all.
I am personal friends with several LGBTQ community members who are on the board of Fairness PA, an organization that I personally have supported. I hope that this organization is able to grow and effectively represent the diverse LGBTQ community, not just in the state Capitol but also in local communities across the state.
Based on this, what do you understand to be our current top LGBTQ concerns and priorities for the Allegheny County Council? How will you respond to those priorities?
My top priorities for the LGBTQ community on County Council are:
1. strengthen the Human Relations Commission’s oversight on issues of discrimination and ensure the enforcement of penalties for those who violate current county ordinances;
2. strengthen penalties for the County’s ban on conversion therapy; and
3. increase representation through appointments to boards, authorities, and commissions.
Tell us about an underappreciated or little known asset in the Allegheny County government?
Hello Baby is an initiative of Allegheny County Department of Human Services that works to connect every family with a new baby with resources needed for the baby’s healthy development and the family’s economic security. This tiered system of outreach and supports can be as simple as sharing information on finding quality child care or as intensive as an outreach worker calling and visiting the family’s home and – connecting them to a neighborhood Family Support Center where the family can receive developmental screenings for delays, diapers, formula, and assistance with transportation to doctor’s visits and Head Start enrollment. This initiative along with many important family-serving programs in the department of Health are part of Allegheny Prenatal to Three, a collaboration that ensures that all families of children from the prenatal stage to age 3 get the support that they need to thrive.
You list multiple priorities, but few details on how you would achieve them. Please give us three specific policy proposals you’d advocate for under your Public Safety priorities.
1. Increase funding to first responders, specifically to support social workers who can assist those experiencing mental health needs, substance use disorder, domestic violence, and other challenges.
2. Explore county grants or subsidies to fire departments, police departments, and/or EMS agencies that incentivize mergers and more efficient services in order to grow overall services for every community in our county.
3. Bring together municipal, county, and state leaders to address challenging intersections and road safety concerns. Implement traffic calming measures along stretches of dangerous county roadways and congested intersections.
As a former classroom educator, what is your stance on charter schools throughout the County?
I am opposed to the expansion of charter schools. Most charter schools, with the exception of a few that specialize in unique services for children with disabilities, serve to profit their owners and executives rather than educate students or improve our education system. There is bipartisan agreement that the funding formula needs to be fixed, and yet for more than a decade it has remained unchanged. I would continue to advocate to swiftly change the funding formula and ensure that every student has access to an adequately funded public school district.
Each Council district has an average of 12 school districts plus private schools, faith-based schools, charter schools, and post-secondary education institutions. LGBTQ students, transgender students in particular, have been targeted on everything from book bans to participation in sports activities. What are the policies of the school districts in your Council district? How would you advocate for trans and queer students lacking the support they need for a successful education experience?
Over the last five years, all the public school districts within Council District 3 have faced challenges with members of the public or media raising questions about how to treat students who are different, because of what they look like, how they identify, or who they love.
Fortunately, these districts all follow best practices within education that ensure all students are safe and able to be themselves. As someone who has closely followed school board races in my district and beyond, I will maintain lines of communication with school board directors and administrators to ensure the law is followed – enforcing civil rights and the protections of our constitution to everyone in Allegheny County.
Additionally, I will ensure that community resources that support LGBTQ students are accessible so that students have places besides school and home where they can be themselves. In looking to expand the county’s role in helping families to afford afterschool and summer camp programs, it is critical that we ensure these programs have qualified staff with training on how to allow every child to feel safe and welcome.
Several of your campaign agenda items rely on federal funding or federal cooperation/partnership, meanwhile the President has already attempted to freeze federal funding that the County relies upon for health care, infrastructure, and more. What’s your Plan B if that funding is slashed?
If funding is slashed, our local government will have to pare back to provide only essential services. This will be taxing on everyone.
To prevent this, I will ridicule authoritarianism and policies that benefit billionaires over working people. Together we must use our voices to speak out and push back on cuts to federal programs that are already devastating to our local economy.
In about 70% of Pennsylvania, it is legal to discriminate against people based on gender identity and sexual orientation – to fire us, to refuse to rent to us, even to deny to serve us in a business. The few protections we have come from municipal ordinances, court rulings, and executive decisions none of which carry the weight of legislative action by the General Assembly. Name three things your office will do to address the fallout of this legalized bigotry?
While County Councilmembers do not have an “office” for constituent services, three things I commit to personally doing include:
1. continue working to elect members of the General Assembly who can pass state legislation outlawing discrimination;
2. Assist advocates in contacting, educating, and pressuring moderate members of the General Assembly who can be persuaded to advance this state legislation; and
3. Strengthening the protections that exist in Allegheny County.
What have you personally and professionally done to protect trans kids?
I helped to found a group called “Hampton for All” which is a community resource for educators, parents, and students in our community. We have a visible presence at our school board promoting protection for all marginalized groups in the town, including trans students.
I have also run a support network for school board candidates in 2021 and 2023 to ensure that we elect pro-public school candidates who will support safe, welcoming school environments for all students – no matter what they look like, where they come from, or who they love. In 2023, I led an effort to raise $10,000 to go to school director candidates across Allegheny County. Along with dedicated volunteers and voters, we flipped control of several school boards, held majorities on others, and built important networks that are already working to elect new school board majorities this year in 2025.
Every school kid learns that we have three branches of government – executive, legislative, and judicial. We also have three levels of government – local, state, and federal. Democracy is supposed to rest at the intersections of these branches and levels. Those intersections also include people – citizens, residents, voters, workers, neighbors. It can be overwhelming when the balance of power is heavily tilted in one direction. What three specifically actions will you take address this imbalance from your office?
With respect to the imbalance of power between the state and local government, as a County Council Member, I would work with our state delegation and state legislative leaders for authority to govern on issues that are important to our residents. Specifically, Allegheny County as a second class county in Pennsylvania does not currently have the power to set its own minimum wage applying to all working people in the County. I believe there is a strong case to be made that we should be allowed to do so, especially in the absence of state action on the issue. I would make that case to our state officials.
Regarding the balance of the executive and legislative branches within Allegheny Council, I will ensure that Allegheny County Council is fully living up to its authorities under the Home Rule Charter. As a Council Member I would avail myself of the powers to review appointments, engage in budgeting decisions, pass ordinances, and (when necessary) subpoena executive branch officials.
With respect to the imbalance of power between people and the government, I will work to educate constituents about how to effectively raise their own voice by contacting their elected officials, showing up to meetings and events, and ensuring their views are heard by the individuals who are supposed to represent them.
There’s a clear need to actively create space for women, especially Black women and other women of color, in elected office AND on campaign and legislative staffs. These are issues of representation and realities. Tell us about your campaign team.
While I am still building out my team, I have been actively seeking to work with Black women on my campaign team and have two that I am working with currently – one as a consultant/advisor and one who has provided support in communications and finance.
Why did you agree to complete this Q&A?
I appreciate the work that Sue Kerr does on this blog to educate voters in the LGBTQ community and beyond. I know that readers/followers of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents are likely to be aligned with my values. When I ran in 2020, I had a few friends from across the region reach out to tell me they read my questionnaire and thank me for being visible on this platform.
Endorsements, Social Media, and Summary
Tell us about your endorsements.
I am endorsed by state representatives Mandy Steele and Arvind Venkat. I am also endorsed by nearly 30 local elected officials (the list continues to grow!), including school board directors and town or borough council members in each of the 12 municipalities in the district.
I am endorsed by the Democratic Committee of Allegheny County and the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Finally, what are three reasons people should vote for you/support your campaign?
I will fight to: 1. Advance children’s early learning and healthy development, 2. Promote public safety by improving traffic safety and equipping first responders, 3. Grow small businesses.
Please list your social media accounts and your donation links.
Facebook: LissaforAllegheny
Instagram: LissaforAllegheny
Bluesky: LissaforAllegheny
secure.actblue.com/donate/lissa-geiger-shulman-1
Is there anything else you’d like to add? No response.
My top priorities for the LGBTQ community on County Council are: 1. strengthen the Human Relations Commission’s oversight on issues of discrimination and ensure the enforcement of penalties for those who violate current county ordinances; 2. strengthen penalties for the County’s ban on conversion therapy; and3. increase representation through appointments to boards, authorities, and commissions.
Other Q&A’s
Other Q&A’s in this election cycle series. You can read previous cycle Q&A’s here. If your candidate would like to participate, please contact us pghlesbian at gmail dot com.
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Lauren Leiggi, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Amy Mathieu, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Matt Rudzki, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Amy Bridges, Candidate for New Castle School Director
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Sarra Terry, Candidate for Allegheny Court of Common Pleas
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Eva Diodati Candidate for Pittsburgh Public School Board District 7
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Amanda Neatrour for Pittsburgh City Council, District Two
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, Candidate For Allegheny County Council
The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Lissa Geiger Shulman Candidate For Allegheny County Council
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