August R. Carlino served as the president and chief executive officer of the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation from its founding until his retirement in March 2025.
During 35 years of leadership, Mr. Carlino established Rivers of Steel as a National Heritage Area recognized globally for preserving and commemorating western Pennsylvania’s natural and shared resources and strengthening the region’s economic and cultural fabric through community partnerships and transformative experiences.
Under Mr. Carlino’s leadership, Rivers of Steel received state and national awards and recognition. In 1997, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge named him to serve on the Pennsylvania Greenways Commission, and in 2010 Governor Ed Rendell inducted him into the Pennsylvania Heritage Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was named one of Pittsburgh’s Top 50 Business Leaders by Smart Business Magazine, and one of Pittsburgh’s most transformative leaders by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Mr. Carlino moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with dual majors in political science and rhetoric and communications, with minor concentrations in history and mathematics. On the Hill, he worked as a Legislative Director to Pittsburgh’s former Congressman William J. Coyne and as a lobbyist for the law firm of Jones Day leading government relations initiatives for clients in taxation, banking, environment, urban affairs, and foreign affairs.
In 1991, he helped organize the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Association and served as president of the group from 1994 to 2000. He also helped organize the Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) in 1997 and served as chairperson of this national organization from 2000 to 2006. From 2006 to 2016, he served as the chair of the Advocacy Committee for ANHA and chaired the committee that worked with the National Park Service to develop the current evaluation model and system assessing the effectiveness of individual National Heritage Areas.
In 1998, Mr. Carlino was invited by President Bill Clinton to appear at a White House ceremony to deliver the keynote speech on the importance of America’s rivers in community revitalization and economic development. In 2000, he was awarded the Sen. H. John Heinz Award for Distinguished Community Service, and in 2002, President George W. Bush named him to serve on a select presidential committee of the U.S. Department of Interior overseeing the future role of the National Park Service working with partners and community organizations on culture, history, and heritage.
Mr. Carlino was named to the Board of Advisors of the National Trust on Historic Preservation in 1999 and was a member of the Partnership Committee of the National Park Service Advisory Board from 2003 to 2010. In Pittsburgh, Mr. Carlino has served on the boards of community and nonprofit organizations, including the Advancement Board and Strategic Planning Committee for Central Catholic High School and Venture Outdoors. He is a graduate of the Leadership Pittsburgh program.
Mr. Carlino is a guest lecturer, leading discussions on heritage conservation, political advocacy, sustainable development, community revitalization, and brownfield redevelopment at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the University of
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, and the University of Chicago.
