Philly Tech Week 2018

The Founder + CEO of Digitability, she launched a new model that fully prepares people with cognitive disabilities for our tech-driven and highly social workforce. Digitability develops a sense of empowerment and the ability to persevere; this is helping people with neurodiverse needs overcome existing social and attitudinal barriers to obtaining and sustaining employment.

Veniece Newton, is a true entrepreneur of today who has been connecting people and products through her relationship building for more than a decade. In her early years, while working in promotions and marketing in the music industry for Arista Records in NYC she learned the importance of people and how they connect the dots. Eventually, she developed an entrepreneurial spirit that could not be denied. Her innovative and unparalleled ability to harness the power of relationship building has given her tremendous respect in the business community. Always ahead of the curve, 15 years ago she founded an online fashion/lifestyle television in which she oversaw a production team of 30 from Hong Kong, Alaska, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. While travelling the world, she interviewed A list celebrities, cover red carpets for many high-profile events. The years of varied experiences, allowed her to eventually find her way to what she truly loved, and that is being involved in the community. As a natural connector, she is a member of several committees and enjoys consulting others with their business ventures. She serves as the Diversity Liaison for the Philadelphia International Airport in which she works specifically to improve workforce while pursuing an Executive MBA at the Fox Temple School of Business. However, one of her strong passions lies in working with youth. She not only has a flair for business and connecting people, but she also has a heart of gold. For the past 10 years, she has devoted her time to empowering the next generation of leaders. She is a panel member for the District Attorney’s Youth Aid Panel and the Founder of Community Angel Foundation; a nonprofit organization that gives back by encouraging, empowering and educating our youth to be future leaders through 4 pillars focusing on volunteerism, education, career and culture. Everything Veniece involves herself with, always includes giving back. It wasn’t no different when she made it to the "Final Four" during the Camden Catalyst startup competition for her innovative idea of ENGAGEathon! And it wasn't farfetched in knowing that her startup would involve community engagement. ENGAGEathon is a customizable software platform that tracks and promotes community engagement, outreach and social impact which will be used by corporations, school districts and organizations. Veniece has a mission to bring our communities together in a positive and effective way; and she will not stop until her mission is complete. Her latest project, Cypher City is a nationwide livestreaming cypher competition in which the public votes through all social media platforms. Cypher City is a very exciting because it allows Veniece to acknowledge the importance of diversity & inclusion and provides a platform for aspiring lyricists to express themselves through words. Veniece is a woman of today and an inspiration for many to believe in yourself and have hope for all.

Carvin Garland Haggins is a Grammy Award Winning and Multi-Platinum Selling Song Writer, Producer, Engineer, Co-Founder of Karma Productions, Co-Creator of Forever Music Inc. and the creator of Ethical Music Entertainment. The Philadelphia native has written hit songs for Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Miguel, Faith Evans, Justin Timberlake, Raheem DeVaughn, and Musiq SoulChild. Carvin has always believed that the best songs come from real life experiences, and has earned a reputation for writing songs that “mean something.” Carvin has been making music since he was 11, and has developed a unique style. In the 1990’s Carvin began working as a producer at “A Touch of Jazz” (ATOJ) for DJ Jazzy Jeff. It was there, that Carvin started getting a lot of recognition for his work. It wasn’t long before his songs started making an impact in the music industry. Carvin’s early work was featured on “The Nutty Professor II,” “Love Jones,” and the “Rush Hour 2” movie soundtracks. He also collaborated on Will Smith’s soundtrack for the movie “Wild Wild West.” At ATOJ Carvin met and began working with Ivan Barias. In 2001, Carvin and Ivan started Karma Productions and have since become one of the most sought after producing duos in the country. The pair, who are now known world-wide, have had several songs at the top of the Billboard Charts including: “Love” (Musiq), “Customer” (Raheem DeVaughn), “If You Leave” (Mary J. Blige and Musiq), and “Gotta Find My Way Back” (Jaheem) Introducing Stokley (Stokley) to name a few. During his career, Carvin has been tapped to create music for television as well. Haggins is the “Music Supervisor” for the annual Christmas television special, “Holiday Love” created by, and starring actress Kim Fields. Since the show began, Carvin has not only overseen the music that goes into the special, he’s also written several original songs for the show too; including music for artists Marvin Sapp, Brian Wilson, Wes Morgan, Karen Clark-Sheard, Tamela Mann and Shirley Caesar.

After recently celebrating 10 years of having Top 10 Billboard Charting records, Carvin and Ivan followed that up with 5 Grammy nominations in 2011. They were nominated for Jaheem’s hit song “Finding My Way Back.” They were also nominated in the R&B Song of the Year category for “Gone Already” by Faith Evans. Most recently, Carvin worked on projects for Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Estelle and 2014 Grammy nominated albums for Chrisette Michele and TGT. The creator of the Ethical Music Entertainment label, Haggins is behind a movement to bring respect back to radio. His artist Montina who is one of the Momma’s who sings background for Beyonce, Mz Lynx who was on MTV, Lex Dime who has a movement called Lost Girls and BriaMarie, whose singles “IDK” and“Celebrate” was featured on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Haggins’ mission is to make music that is positive, has clean and clever lyrics, and will keep you moving. To Haggins, not only making music, but raising up another generation of musicians, writers and producers that create “real” music is as important. In an effort to give young people the opportunity to explore their artistic potential, Carvin is one of the founders of the Creative Minds Performing Arts School. The school will house “Karma Junior Productions,” and is projected to open in 2020. Haggins also gives back in other ways. He was a teacher at Chester Community Charter School and on the board of directors for the Recording Academy- Philadelphia chapter. He has received numerous honors for his work and service, including being named a Creative Ambassador for Philadelphia, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and Innovation for BMM 2012, and was recognized for his accomplishments and community service, at the 16th Annual Artist Ball in Philadelphia. He’s currently a member of the Philadelphia Task Force. A organization created by the city to help the creative arts. When he’s not in the studio, or working on music curriculum for his school, Carvin is in fellowship with his family and friends at Southern Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At SBC, Carvin is a Reverend and Sunday School teacher.

Thomas Jay Rush is the founder of QuickBlocks.io, a blockchain focused consultancy and software company delivering account-specific, articulated data from the Ethereum blockchain. Mr. Rush is also the founder of the Philadelphia Ethereum Meetup group. Prior to founding QuickBlocks.io, Mr. Rush served as President and CEO of Great Hill Corporation, an Internet-based software vendor first started in 1994. A practicing poet, Mr. Rush speaks and writes widely about the blockchain and its implications.

John Grady serves as President and CEO of PIDC, Philadelphia’s public-private development corporation, where he is responsible for the organization’s efforts to develop and implement collaborative strategies, resources, and products to invest in the people, places, projects and initiatives that drive economic growth to every corner of Philadelphia. John leads PIDC’s efforts to strengthen relationships with Philadelphia’s public, private and philanthropic sectors to attract and deliver resources that promote business growth, investment and development across the city and throughout its economy. He directs internal activities around strategy, business development, capitalization, impact assessment, and the development and delivery of real estate and financing initiatives and products that fill project financing gaps for both neighborhood and large-scale commercial, industrial and mixed-use developments, deliver capital to growing businesses, and energize the development of the city’s workplaces of the future. With nearly 30 years of leadership experience in public-private partnerships that drive investment, development and job growth in and around Philadelphia, John joined PIDC in 1998, serving in a variety of senior leadership positions including overseeing city-wide real estate development activity and the acquisition and redevelopment of The Navy Yard, and has been its President since 2011. Prior to joining PIDC, John spent 9 years with the Cooper’s Ferry Development Association planning and developing Camden, NJ’s commercial waterfront. John is a native Philadelphian and a graduate from La Salle University with a BA in Economics and the University of Pennsylvania’s MPA program. He is active with a number of educational, business and civic organizations throughout the city, including as a Trustee at La Salle University and Roman Catholic High School; a Distinguished Alumni Fellow at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania; and as a Director of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development and the East Falls Development Corporation.

Alan Flake is an attending surgeon in the Division of General Thoracic & Fetal Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he is Vice Chair of Research, holds the Ruth and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery and acts as Director of the Center for Fetal Research. He is also Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Dr. Flake has led a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research laboratory directed toward surgical correction of fetal anomalies and fetal stem cell and gene therapy for over 20 years. Under Dr. Flake's leadership, the Center for Fetal Research is exploring innovations in prenatal treatment, particularly in the areas of gene and stem cell therapy, and for life-threatening anatomic malformations and diseases. Recently, the Center has developed new technology for physiologic support of the extreme premature infant, a development that could have major implications for the treatment of prematurity.

Dr. Flake has published extensively with authorship of over 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 review articles and book chapters. Clinically, Dr. Flake actively participates as a Fetal Surgeon in the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with interests in fetal diagnosis and therapy, in utero stem cell and gene therapy, extracorporeal support of the extreme premature infant (the artificial placenta/uterus), hepatobiliary surgery, and minimally invasive neonatal and pediatric surgery.

Riley Wong conducts machine learning and data science research at UPenn’s School of Medicine. They graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 in computer science. Their background is in software engineering, natural language processing, and machine learning. They are passionate about social impact and community building and enjoy music and art.

Erin is a Product Designer at Nasdaq where she specializes in mobile. Erin has experience in many different industries and across multiple platforms. In addition to designing mobile products, Erin is an advocate for accessibility where she’s active in raising awareness.