Empower Erie is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, headed by Atty. Ronald A. DiNicola. The goal of Empower Erie is to establish a Community College in Erie County as a way to improve the overall educational attainment and household income of Erie County Residents, meet employer’s current and future needs for skilled workers, make Erie a more attractive place for businesses, and create more family sustaining jobs.
Our volunteer Board of Directors is comprised of a dedicated team, with unique expertise and experience, to support the establishment of a Community College in Erie County.
Ronald DiNicola is an Erie-based lawyer with a national law practice and broad experience in business, government, and public interest advocacy. He was born and raised in Erie, the son of an Italian immigrant bricklayer. He served in the U.S. Marines, graduated first in his platoon from boot camp at Parris Island and a year later won the All-Marine Corps Boxing Championship. He attended Harvard University on the G.I. Bill and earned a degree in government. After graduating from Georgetown Law School, he served as a law clerk to Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Weber in Pittsburgh and Erie.
DiNicola joined the national law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp and is known for his representation of leading figures and entities from the worlds of business, entertainment, sports, and politics. A prominent democrat, DiNicola ran for Congress in his native Pennsylvania losing narrowly (51%-49%) and has twice served on the Democratic National Platform Committee.
Over the years, DiNicola has taken up various causes in the public interest serving in numerous capacities. He was an architect of and served as legal counsel to the Warren Christopher Commission in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. He represented thousands of laid-off Erie G.E. workers who were twice denied federal benefits by the U.S. Department of Labor. His appeal to the U.S. Court of International Trade led to a reversal of the government's denial freeing up millions of dollars in benefits for Erie workers and their families. He recovered over a million dollars for Amnesty International in a civil case in Long Beach, California. From 2010 to 2013, while maintaining his private practice, DiNicola served as Erie County Solicitor. Since 2014, DiNicola has co-chaired the Pre-K for PA campaign in Northwest Pennsylvania. He is a founder and Co-Chair of the Erie Police Athletic League. He is the recipient of the 2012 NAACP Spirit of the Community Award and the 2015 "Voice for Children Vision Award" of the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children.
A community college has long been recommended in Erie County to fill a gap in the region’s education continuum and serve as a resource to local employers, especially manuf...
As Erie Times-News reporter Matthew Rink detailed, the state last fall authorized $10 million in the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for Erie County’s proposed co...
Tom Hagen's op-ed in support of the community college.
...The Special Committee of the State Board of Education (Board) established to facilitate the Board's consideration of the plan submitted by Erie County seeking to establish the E...
The state’s application review process could take up to a year, officials have said.
...A community college plan developed by nonprofit Empower Erie over the past several months now becomes the formal application for the new school that coul...
This past year, our county embarked on a familiar journey toward the establishment of a community college. With the backing of Erie’s philanthropic community and County Ex...
County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper will host a series of events featuring County Council members and members of the Empower Erie team at local high schools. The meetings will pro...
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