Pittsburgh Knights launch women leadership programme with PNC Bank

Pittsburgh Knights
Image credit: Pittsburgh Knights

North American esports organisation Pittsburgh Knights and PNC Bank have announced a new esports internship programme to provide women with opportunities in the industry.

The Women In Esports Internship programme will give chosen participants a chance to work with the esports team. The programme will consist of two initial interns: Jing Hua Toh and Kelly Liu.

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The Pittsburgh Knights is an esports organisation perhaps most known for their ties to the NFL franchise Pittsburgh Steelers and rapper Wiz Khalifa. The organisation has teams in Rainbow Six, iRacing, Mortal Kombat, and Madden and competes both locally and internationally.

PNC Bank has been a partner of the Pittsburgh Knights since 2020, and the two companies emphasised the importance of mentorship and support towards women in esports as the main goals of the internship.

The new mentorship programme will see the two participants join the organisation over the summer months, and work with the Pittsburgh Knights in its technology and esports departments. According to the company, Jing Hua Toh will work on AI-focused features for the Knights and Kelly Liu will work on content creation.

The organisation did not mention whether the two participants will get the opportunity to stay with the Knights after the internship period is over. Moreover, it was not revealed if the internship will continue after the summer.

James O’Connor, the CEO of the Pittsburgh Knights, commented on the programme: “This project, in collaboration with PNC Bank, demonstrates our dedication to creating a diverse and inclusive environment in the esports industry. PNC’s long-standing support of the communities it  serves and its ongoing efforts to empower women has been an inspiration for the Knights.” 

Ivan Šimić
Ivan comes from Croatia, loves weird simulator games, and is terrible at playing anything else. Spent 5 years writing about tech and esports in Croatia, and is now doing it here.