Venture for America creates cross-sector intersect with speaker series

Julia Anaya speaking at the February Open Access PHL event. 

The Intersect Philly speaker series, started by Venture for America fellows living and working in Philadelphia, aims to highlight two disparate, but meaningful, organizations in Philadelphia at each event. The first event takes place this Thursday, July 9 at the Dreaming Building at 618 N Front Street.

“Since most of [us Venture for America fellows] moved here almost a year ago, Philadelphia has welcomed us into so many of its awesome communities, and we wanted to figure out a way to give back and build upon the support that we’ve found, which is why we decided to start Intersect Philly,” Julia Anaya, one of the fellows, wrote in an email. “Intersect Philly hopes to bring together communities and organizations of Philadelphia that don’t interact on regular basis, with the goal of inspiring collaboration and a broader understanding of the stakeholders involved in building the future of Philly.”

At each event, Each of the speakers will have the chance to present their organization to the group before we open the conversation up to a moderated panel Q&A. The panel will be followed by networking. This month’s speakers are Girls Rock Philly, which empowers women through music and performance, and the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Transportation & Utilities about how the Indego Bike Share program has empowered Philadelphians through increased access to transportation.

The goal, according to Anaya, is to make the series a bi-monthly event, and the group is aiming to hold another in September.

“We are excited for Intersect Philly to be an event that transcends any one neighborhood, industry, or community of Philadelphia,” added Anaya. “This is an event for all Philadelphians to learn about the innovative work and opportunities developing in their city, and become a part of the conversation.”

Image via Kristen Gillette