RealLIST Connectors 2021: Meet 20 people changing Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem for good – Technical.ly Philly
In a time of distance and division, local innovators are working to bring people together for good.
Last year, Technical.ly set out to create a comprehensive look at who’s connecting the Philly tech community, especially amid a pandemic and widespread societal inequities. RealLIST Connectors was born.
The concept was this: If you’re brand new on the tech scene here in Philly, who are the first people you’d want to be introduced to to help you build, fundraise, learn, connect and grow? For our inaugural list in 2020, we dug deep, asked our community, and came up with the top 100 people building bridges.
The intention in our second year is to build an addendum to that comprehensive list. Many of the same folks who were influential and connective in 2020 are still.
But who, in the last 12 months, has made an impact and been connective in response to continuing and new challenges? Who is widening access to the opportunities of the tech sector, or helping others launch their careers? Who is focusing attention on systemic inequality, or helping Philadelphians better understand how their city’s economy is changing?
To build this year’s RealLIST Connectors, we asked the original honorees for their nominations, and shaped the final rundown from our own reporting. The 2021 list represents different industries, including the government, nonprofit and private sectors. While some of those featured have been in Philly for decades, others have made an impact in a short amount of time. And some are literally saving lives.
The 2021 list was compiled with input from Technical.ly’s newsroom, including reporters Paige Gross and Michael Butler and Editor Julie Zeglen. What you see below is a peek into our source book, and a look at some of the hopeful, future-minded work happening in your own backyard.
Margaret Berger Bradley
Margaret Berger Bradley (second-right) on a 2018 impact investing panel. (Photo by Julie Zeglen)
Stephen Brittin
Stephen Brittin. (Photo via LinkedIn)
John Fazio
Nerd Street Gamers CEO John Fazio. (Courtesy photo)
Rachel Ferguson
Rachel Ferguson. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Anne Gemmell
Anne Gemmell presenting at the Future Works Alliance PHL launch event in November 2020. (Screenshot)
Terrill Haigler
Philly sanitation worker Terrill Haigler, aka @yafavtrashman. (Courtesy photo)
Marieke Jackson
Marieke Jackson. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Jabari Jones
West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative Chief Strategist Diamonique Robinson and President Jabari Jones at the org’s first Technology Repair Pop-Up in fall 2020. (Courtesy photo)
Isabelle Kent
Isabelle Kent. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Paul Levy
Paul Levy. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Eric Meyer
Eric Meyer. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Shannon Morales
Tribaja founder Shannon Morales. (Courtesy photo)
Michael O’Bryan
Michael O’Bryan. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Dr. Ala Stanford
Dr. Ala Stanford. (Photo via Twitter)
Aron Starosta and Thom Webster
Aron Starosta. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Thom Webster. (Photo via the University City Science Center)
Neferteri Strickland
Neferteri Strickland. (Photo via TED.com)
Juliet Fink Yates and Emily Yates Giulioni
Fink Yates. (LinkedIn)
Fink Yates has built a coalition of city government, community orgs and donors to “deliver expansive digital equity programs to residents,” including the 2020-2021 school year’s PHLConnectED program bringing free internet to local families, and digital navigator helplines for navigating challenges with technology and the internet.
Emily Yates Giulioni. (Photo via LinkedIn)
Tiffany Yau
Tiffany Yau. (Photo vis LinkedIn)