Power Moves: The Philly Office of LGBT Affairs just got its first deputy director
December 11, 2017 Category: Featured, Long, PeoplePower Moves is a semi-regular column chronicling leadership movements within Philly’s social impact community. Send announcements to philly@generocity.org.
1. Evan Thornburg is the Office of LGBT Affairs’ first deputy director.
Last Monday, the city announced the hiring of the LGBTQ-serving office’s second employee: Thornburg, who previously worked as an inclusivity consultant and as an education specialist at the Attic Youth Center’s Bryson Institute.
The Philly native will report directly to Amber Hikes, who has worked as the office’s director for the past 10 months.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled about Evan’s arrival to the Office of LGBT Affairs,” Hikes said in a statement. “Evan is a brilliant, creative professional who is deeply passionate about the rights and lives of our thriving Philadelphia LGBTQ community. Her extensive expertise in LGBTQ training and education will be invaluable to the Office’s goals and priorities moving forward.”
2. Larry Krasner’s transition team is stacked with criminal justice reform advocates and politicians.
Philadelphia’s uber-progressive new district attorney-elect has picked 16 law and law-adjacent professionals for his transition team, which is tasked with helping him set his administration’s goals.
Here’s who made the cut, according to Metro:
- Chris Woods, District 1199C leader (co-chair)
- Marian B. Tasco, former councilwoman (co-chair)
- Jeff Brown, Shoprite CEO
- Ronald Castille, former Philly D.A. and Supreme Court justice
- Michael Coard, civil rights and defense attorney
- Michael DiBerardinis, city managing director
- Carolyn Engle Temin, former judge
- Charles Gibbs, attorney
- Marie Gottschalk, University of Pennsylvania professor
- Ryan Hancock, attorney and Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity board member
- Elizabeth Holtzman, former U.S. representative
- Sylvester Johnson, former police commissioner
- Movita Johnson Harrell, victim advocate
- Joanna McClinton, state representative
- Patricia Pierce, attorney
- María Quiñones Sánchez, councilwoman
Krasner takes over on Jan. 2. Psst, he’s is also hiring.
3. Yuval Yarden joined the Global Entrepreneurship Network …
The tech community organizer joined the D.C.-based org, which runs November’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, as its director for ecosystem engagement, last month.
Yarden became Philly Startup Leaders’ (PSL) first executive director in March 2016 but left the organization this October after an explosive public exchange about diversity in Philly’s tech community with Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship founder Tayyib Smith.
Catch the description for her old job here.
4. … And PSL gained a new board.
Here are the regional startup group’s new board members and some challenges to consider from their community, according to Technical.ly Philly:
- President — Bob Moore
- Board chair — Rick Nucci
- Board members — Morgan Berman, Liz Brown, Luke Butler, Emily Foote, Jon Gosier, Prasanna Krishnan, Jennifer Maher, Todd Outten and Christopher Wink
- Special advisor — Brigitte Daniel
(Full disclosure, Wink is Generocity parent company Technically Media’s cofounder and CEO.)
5. Rebuild picked 21 nonprofits as project users.
Last month, the city announced 21 project users for its $500 million civic improvement project. The distinction means the organizations are eligible to apply for grants to manage improvements to parks, rec centers and libraries through the Rebuild initiative:
- Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM)
- Beech Interplex Inc.
- Boys & Girls Club
- Community Ventures
- Diversified Community Services
- Fairmount Park Conservancy
- Free Library Foundation
- Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
- HACE
- Impact Services Corporation
- Mt. Airy USA
- New Kensington CDC
- Nicetown CDC
- Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
- People’s Emergency Center
- Public Health Management Corporation
- Spring Garden CDC
- The Enterprise Center
- Trust for Public Land
- Universal Companies
- Urban Roots
6. United Way’s volunteerism arm gave out some awards last week.
Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council hosted its inaugural member awards on Thursday, Dec. 7, to honor regional companies with exemplary service programs.
Awards went to:
- Member of the Year — Independence Blue Cross
- New Member of the Year — AmeriHealth Caritas
- Small Business Member of the Year — RevZilla
- Innovation Award — The Philadelphia Eagles
- Impact 2030 Award — IBM
Celebrating #Impact! Kicking off our 1st annual #GPCVC Member Awards + Celebration. TY @PhillyMayor for joining us! #United2Serve #Volunteer pic.twitter.com/LGByENBuWN
— United Way (UWGPSNJ) (@PhillySJUnited) December 7, 2017
7. City & State PA named its second class of 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.
The multimedia news organization covering Pennsylvania’s state and local government, politics and advocacy hosted its latest celebration for 40 young political leaders this month.
The list of honorees includes Congreso CEO Carolina Cabrera DiGiorgio, Project H.O.P.E. Board President Brandy Bones, Jefferson’s List cofounder TJ Hurst, Community Legal Services Managing Attorney Rasheedah Phillips, She Can Win founder Jasmine Sessoms and Emerge Pennsylvania ED Anne Wakabayashi.
See the full list here.
8. Chester County Fund for Women and Girls will honor Patricia Miller in March.
The West Chester fund announced today that the Nobel Learning Communities president will receive the Gladys Black Woman of Distinction Award at its inaugural Champions of Change Breakfast on March 1 “for her longstanding dedication to advancing women in professional roles” including as a leader within the Forum for Executive Women.
Law firm Fox Rothschild will also be honored for its “firm-wide commitment to mentorship and career development for female attorneys,” according to a press release.
9. Former Technical.ly Philly reporter Juliana Reyes just started a sweet job at the Inquirer.
This one’s a bit of a selfish entry, but here we go: Technically Media’s very first hire has moved on to join the features desk at Philadelphia Media Network, where she’ll be reporting on city life and workplace culture. Reyes’ last title at Technically Media was editorial product lead after serving as associate editor for a year and lead reporter for four years.
The reporter who took her place a year and a half ago, Roberto Torres, chatted with her about trust-based community building and the importance of highlighting people over products — lessons relevant far beyond the newsroom. Check out her Exit Interview here.