Jeremy Ferderber

Jeremy Ferderber earned a high school diploma from Mars High School and a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 2000. His career experience includes working as an environmental consultant.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up just outside House District 28 on my family’s organic farm, where chores started early and the lessons stuck: work hard, take care of people, and leave things better than you found them. After graduating from Mars High School, I earned a degree in Environmental Science (and a minor in Spanish) from Allegheny College.

I spent almost two decades in South Florida working in environmental consulting, specializing in indoor air quality, and learning the beauty of multiculturalism. My work ranged from post‑9/11 health and safety monitoring to conducting thousands of IAQ assessments across South Florida and beyond. Those years shaped my commitment to public health and practical, science‑based problem‑solving.

Florida is also where I met my wife and started my family. Eventually, we moved back to Pennsylvania so our kids could grow up with the same community roots I had. Today we live in the Pine‑Richland School District, where I volunteer in the schools, coach youth soccer, and help to run my family’s natural‑foods distribution business that was born out of the same farm I was.

Everything I’ve done — from farm fields to environmental work to community service — drives my dedication to representing this region. My goal is simple: protect the rights and opportunities our kids have today and strengthen them for the future, starting right here at home.

With ALL my spare time, I play soccer, I spend time with my family, and I cook up some amazing vegetarian food for dinner.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I want to ensure the brightest future for my children, and everyone's children, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. My 15 year old daughter should grow up with as many rights (if not more) as her mother and grandmothers had, not less. These rights are at risk due to the loss of federal protections - I want to make sure those rights are secured at the state level so that she and others can grow up and safely chart their own path. I want to be very clear that ALL humans have equal opportunities to not just exist, but to thrive, in our state. Everyone deserves basic human respect, dignity and due process.Economic impacts are being felt by almost everyone, everywhere. While we can't tackle all of the affordability issues facing Americans at the state level, we can take measures to help make everyday living more affordable. By accessing untapped revenue streams such as taxation of legalized marijuana, and by fostering development of the abundant renewable energy sources in our state, we can help to make healthcare (and health insurance) more affordable, and to increase much-needed funding for our children's education. Further, by strategically reinvesting our tax dollars into our local communities and infrastructure, we can attract new businesses to open their doors, which will help to offset the tax burden on local residents.The current national political landscape may be the most divisive of our lives, but I believe there is a way forward. While serving as a member of the Pine-Richland book review committee, I volunteered alongside other community members from different backgrounds and surely different political persuasions to discuss uncomfortable and polarizing topics after reading all 14 challenged books. We were able to sit together at a table and have real, substantive and constructive conversations about topics that might otherwise divide us. I believe this is replicable on a larger scale, including in our state house. We need to get back to a place of common decency where we can talk to our neighbors and re-establish a sense of community again.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

While I don't have much experience with public policy, I think that my background does provide me with several areas of expertise. As a lifelong environmental advocate with a degree and career in science, followed by a career switch to operating a small family business, I am a firm believer in the connection between environmental and economic policy, balancing innovation with conservation. When there is a mutually beneficial outcome for small business development, environmental stewardship, and everyone's bank accounts, we all win.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Allegheny County Democratic Committee

Young Democrats of Allegheny County (recommended candidate)

3.14 Action

Clean Water Action