In 1984, Fred Rogers asked Bill Isler to leave his position as Executive Assistant to Pennsylvania Secretary of Education in Harrisburg and join his company, Family Communications. Twenty-five years later, Bill continues to guide the organization in serving the mission of its founder.

Under his leadership, FCI continued to produce Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, while expanding into the development of educational initiatives for individuals who work with children. A further feature of the last two decades has been the growth of working partnerships with other non-profit agencies, institutions and the foundation community. These collaborations have resulted in a number of innovative programs such as:

• ongoing involvement with PNC's Grow Up Great, a program for school readiness that helps prepare children from birth to age five for success in school and life.
  
  
• the Girls’ Math, Science and Technology Project, developed cooperatively with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and funded by the Heinz Endowments and Alcoa Foundation to engage young girls in math and science for the technology demands of the 21st century workplace.
  
  
• FamilyCares, a series of parenting pamphlets widely distributed through PBS and social service organizations, developed with the Office of Child Development of the University of Pittsburgh and supported by the Frank & Theresa Caplan Fund for Early Childhood Development and Parenting Education and The Grable Foundation.

In addition to his leadership role at FCI, Bill was the first Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Center and is now a member of the Pittsburgh School Board, Immediate Past President of the Council of Great City Schools, and serves on the National League of Cities Council on Children, Youth, and Education, the Rand Promising Practices Network, the Hillman Cancer Institute, and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth & Families. He is a Board member of The Grable Foundation, the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member for more than three decades of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. He is also “Alumnus of Distinction” of Saint Vincent College, and is co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Early Childhood Care and Education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Bill received The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Isabel P. Kennedy Award for child advocacy and was named “Person of the Year” in 2007 by the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Last month, he received the United Cerebral Palsy / Community Living and Support Services (UCP/CLASS) Gertrude Labowitz Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2003, Bill shared some memories of Fred Rogers and his early days at Family Communications. The video below is courtesy of WQED Pittsburgh's On-Q Magazine.

 

 

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