About Us
Our mission is to promote conservation through the reuse of building materials
Material reuse includes reclaiming, salvaging, deconstructing, repurposing, and upcycling items to keep them in use and out of the waste stream
We’re always looking for ways to build a more circular economy
Running CJ means accepting donations of used and surplus materials at our large warehouse, and then selling them in our 30,000 sq. ft. store to new users. As our materials are a fraction of the cost of new, our mission has an environmental and social impact. As a nonprofit, we cover most of our operational costs with the revenues from sales and we hold an annual fundraiser, the Cee Jay Awards, to cover the balance and to invest in improvements.
We hope you’ll visit us, or donate materials – we’re the largest and coolest reuse nonprofit in the Pittsburgh region!
Melissa Mongelli, Executive Director
Mike Gable, Founding Executive Director /Consultant
John Gibbons, Retail Operations Manager
Kevin Parr, Warehouse Manager
Thomas Novosel, Customer Experience Manager
Nicola Coohill, Business Manager
Terry Wiles, Urban Lumber, Online Sales & Outreach Manager
Greg Webster, Donations & Logistics Manager
Nicole Smith, Chief Financial Officer
Greg LaForest, President
– Associate Principal at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Eric Perz, Vice President #1
– Vice President, Data Science at Brunner
Bob Reppe, Vice President #2
– University Architect at Carnegie Mellon University
Kara Magoolaghan, Treasurer
– Principal at KMCG LLC
Jennifer Garczyk, Secretary
– Vice President, Key Accounts at Red Bull North America
Benson Gabler, Immediate Past President
– Vice President, Impact at International Living Future Institute
Directors
Howard Wein, Of Counsel at Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney, PC
Walter Burlack, CEO at Community Growth Fund
Reid Crosby, Owner at Reid W. Crosby
Alexis Miller, Director of Product Management at Schell Games
Marta Dalton, Vice President, Marketing & Innovation at PetSafe Brands
Patricia Tsagaris, Director of Retail Operations at National Council of Jewish Women
Tom Milani, Managing Partner at Michael Brothers Companies
Karl Zellars, Surplus Property Manager at University of Pittsburgh
Caitlin Delach, Project Manager at Rycon Development Company
Michael Volpatt, VP Marketing and Innovation at Volpatt Construction
Michael Parker, Executive Director & Managing Attorney at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services
Paulette Ference, Patient Services Representative at UPMC
Katie Bicknell, President at KB MarLytics, LLC
Our Partnerships
We are a proud affiliate of PRC, Pennsylvania’s oldest grassroots environmental organization. Since 1939 they have worked to protect the Commonwealth’s resources for future generations through environmental education, recycling and waste diversion programs, anti-litter campaigns and much more. For additional recycling and reuse information visit the Pennsylvania Resources Council website.
We host several Goodwill job training and work program participants at Construction Junction, with their supervisors. The participants learn skills as they work to process doors, tile and flooring and deliver it to the store. We also offer seasonal opportunities as they arise, to participants in various Goodwill programs that aim to assist entry level participants and others with barriers to employment to gain work experience or to earn in a temporary position.
Project RE_ aims to introduce new constituencies to the reuse movement and to use opportunities arising from the growth of reuse to increase jobs for those with barriers to employment. It is a partnership between Construction Junction and the Urban Design Build Studio.
Trade Institute of Pittsburgh is a non-profit building trade training provider dedicated to providing opportunities for indiviuals with barries to employmen. TIP engages returning citizens to meet a growing need for skilled workers across the trades as the older generation of workers retires.
Doors Unhinged sources and distributes high-quality, reclaimed, commercial-grade, complete door systems, driving the circular economy in the construction industry and turning trash into a commodity. They rescue solid wood, glass, and hollow metal doors, frames and hardware from office buildings undergoing renovation before they’re disposed of. Doors Unhinged is based in Pittsburgh, PA, and was launched in 2018 by Andrew Ellsworth, LEED AP, Founder, CEO & all-around door geek.
The American Institute of Architects, Pittsburgh Chapter’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate—to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public—design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. COTE serves as the community and voice on behalf of AIA architects regarding sustainable design.
Since its creation, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation has endeavored to create an integrated community of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh who focus their intellectual talents on rendering society more sustainable.