Many are already doing it. Here are the POC technologists and entrepreneurs you nominated for our first-ever realLIST of Color.
Philadelphia, a minority-majority city.
The fastest-growing industrial sector, expanding family-sustaining jobs and paving career paths, is also an area where 76 percent of technical positions are held by men and where about 66 percent of the people are white, according to the Atlassian study quoted in this guest post by developer Shanise Barona.
At the local level, a collective effort is underway to determine what our local statistics are and what actions might help Philly (where people of color are the majority) better reflect its own demographics.
But to kick off the initiative and in keeping with the August theme in our editorial calendar, we’d like to shine a light on POCs who are already going their own way: a mix of entrepreneurs and technologists helping the local tech ecosystem to grow.
In no particular order, we present Technical.ly’s first-ever realLIST of Color, compiled from a mix of your nominations and our coverage over the years.
Cloudamize founder Khushboo Shah built her cloud computing company in Philadelphia. In five years, she was able to deliver good news to her company’s investors: the Center City firm was slated to merge with London-based Cloudreach, a portfolio company of New York public company Blackstone. Shah became head of the Cloudamize business unit within Cloudreach.
Transforming leisure centers into centers for building digital skills was Mobley’s mission after returning from Iraq. The Army National Guard veteran has scaled this technology-focused nonprofit through partnerships with organizations like Comcast, AT&T, and Uber. Earlier this year, it established its first out-of-state expansion with the opening of a store in Wilmington, Delaware.
The co-founder of ROAR for Good, a Kuwait-born CEO whose company makes a smart security device called Athena, has made national headlines multiple times for her public speaking and advocacy for diversity in technology. In 2011, she helped launch the Philly chapter of Girl Develop It.
As an investor, accelerator founder and most recently filmmaker, Gosier founded a start-up hub in South Philly called Southbox, which groups early-stage companies to streamline processes and reduce costs. He also co-founded music technology company Audigent.
Wolfe leads the prominent Philly New Tech Meetup group, having spent approximately 20 years in corporate IT and manufacturing leadership. Wolfe is the founder of talent brokerage company Sweat EquitE.
See Reynolds, the outspoken founder of digital marketing company SEER Interactive, speaking on national stages for SEO and marketing. His company employs 150 between Northern Liberties and a recently expanded beachhead in San Diego.
In 2015, Burke founded marketing compliance firm Lithero, which helps biopharmaceutical companies reduce costs while remaining compliant. Prior to founding the Philadelphia-based company, he led a global marketing operations team and two globally deployed Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms at Accenture.
Venture for America’s Director of Marketing is also the founder of Daily Success Routine, an e-commerce company focused on “Lifestyle Design for Ambitious Women” that develops daily planners, organizational products, and educational workshops for women.
When MIT graduate and Mexican immigrant Adriana Vazquez came to Penn for graduate school, Philadelphia provided the connections and resources to start her business. Lilu makes a pumping bra that helps moms pump more milk faster.
Freire founded and directed the Urban Technology Project, an IT career program that has received national recognition and funding from both private and public entities.
