As you might have heard, Generocity is co-hosting the Philly Geek Awards this year with Geekadelphia and Technical.ly.

This year’s nominees are a fiercely dedicated bunch of technologists, nerds and do-gooders. From shooting ice cream into space in the name of education to creating a video production apprenticeship program for citizens returning from incarceration, there was a ton of competition for the people passionately geeking out over the best ways to make Philly a better place.

Here’s a quick taste of the 14 categories that make up this year’s awards, happening on Sunday, Oct. 16:

Mission Leader of the Year

• Chris Lehmann — Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school.
• Simran Sidhu — Sidhu recently completed a nearly 15-year tenure as executive director of YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School, a diploma-based program that provides young people who have dropped out of high school with an opportunity to reconnect with their education and to serve their communities in a meaningful way.
• Omar Woodard — Executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia, Woodard has a decade of experience working in venture philanthropy, management consulting, and foreign and U.S. government relations.

Partnership of the Year

• Ice Cream in Space — Little Baby’s Ice Cream partnered on a science experiment with students at the Workshop School to depict important scientific concepts such as experiential learning, innovative sustainable frozen food packaging, existential co(s)mic queries and a cappella rap music, culminating in an absurdist-docu-comedy, directed by Jesse Engaard.
• Philly Vets Home — A community-wide, inclusive effort of government and nonprofit agencies, Philly Vets Home has placed more than 1,390 veterans in permanent housing.
• West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning Initiative — AFEL is a Drexel University-led collaboration of social service, education agencies and community stakeholders working to create an education support system for families in the 19104 ZIP code, specifically in the high-need, high-poverty neighborhoods of West Philadelphia.

Stay tuned — tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 23.