Allison Stadd

Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs for the city of Philadelphia]. In this role, she serves as a public facing leader, liaison, and subject matter expert for the Mayor’s Office on local and national matters that impact diverse communities of faith. She also manages the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs.

Last year, Naomi was named one of 9 LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress and was included in The Root 100, an annual list of the nation’s most influential African-Americans, ages 25-45.

Naomi is also an adjunct professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, with joint affiliations with the University’s Center for Peace and Justice Education and Africana Studies program. She also directs the Villanova Gospel Choir. In 2019, Naomi received the Pohlhaus-Stracciolini Award for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes an adjunct faculty member at Villanova who demonstrates a commitment to the life of the mind and to the well-being of students through teaching that is intellectually stimulating, challenging, and accessible, with efforts extending beyond the classroom.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp 

Rebecca Cordes Chan is the Executive Director of Friends of the Rail Park, the nonprofit dedicated to bringing the Rail Park, a linear park and pathway reusing the historic rail lines that cross 10+ Philadelphia neighborhoods, to life. A preservationist by training, Rebecca brings her experience in comprehensive community development, philanthropy, and arts and culture to the Rail Park. Prior to joining the Rail Park, Rebecca was the program officer for the National Economic Development program at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), one of the nation’s largest community development financial institutions, where she managed a portfolio of projects focused on using arts- and culturally-based strategies as tools for inclusive economic development.

Rebecca has been recognized as a Funders Network PLACES Fellow (2018), and a Fellow and Co-Facilitator of the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators (2019. 2015). She holds an M.S. from the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Rebecca is an avid cyclist and serves as ball-slinger-in-chief for her dog, Gozer.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp 

Paul M. Farber, PhD is Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab. He also serves as Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Farber’s research and curatorial projects explore transnational urban history, cultural memory, and creative approaches to civic engagement. He is the author of A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall (University of North Carolina Press, 2020) which tells the untold story of a group of American artists and writers (Leonard Freed, Angela Davis, Shinkichi Tajiri, and Audre Lorde) who found refuge along the Berlin Wall and in Cold War Germany in order to confront political divisions back home in the United States. He is also the co-editor with Ken Lum of Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia (Temple University Press, 2019), a public art and history handbook designed to generate new critical ways of thinking about and building monuments.

@paul_farber // @monument_lab

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp 

Due Quach (pronounced ‘Zway Kwok’) is an inspiring social entrepreneur and the author of Calm Clarity: How to Use Science to Rewire Your Brain for Greater Wisdom, Fulfillment and Joy, one of Fast Company’s best business books of 2018. Her social enterprise, also named Calm Clarity, uses neuroscience and mindfulness to guide organizations and individuals to address unconscious bias, lead with authenticity, and foster genuine inclusion, healing, and integration.

Having started life in poverty as a refugee in inner-city Philadelphia, Due turned to neuroscience to heal the long-term effects of trauma, graduate from Harvard College and the Wharton School of Business, and build a successful international business career. Due’s powerful story is featured in The Portal, a beautiful documentary film about meditation as a portal for healing and transformation.

After her autobiographical essay, “Poor and Traumatized at Harvard,” became a viral sensation, she collaborated with student leaders to start a grassroots organization, the Collective Success Network, to mentor, support, and empower low-income, first-generation college students to successfully navigate college and enter professional careers.

Due also serves on the board of the Power of Professional Women, a non-profit organization that supports the advancement of women leaders in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Due’s leadership in building social ventures and her unique combination of international business experience, in-depth understanding of neuroscience and mindfulness, and personal success in transcending unconscious bias and exclusion enable her to provide exceptional advice and support to help organizations build a high-performing inclusive and diverse culture and environment where people bring their full selves to work, embody the highest expression of who they are, and collaborate to fulfill the organization’s greater vision and purpose.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp

Insecurity:

Lyonzo Vargas is a Social Entrepreneur, Community Architect, Urban Wellness Advocate and Urban Maestro, on an unstoppable mission. Lyonzo currently resides in Philadelphia, however entered the world in the melting pot of the Bronx, NY. Living in a culture filled with people suffering from stress and anxiety due to poor mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional diet, motivated Lyonzo and his two co-founders created an entertainment and wellness company called GLBL VLLG (Global Village). Lyonzo dedicated his life to people from all walks of life, focusing primarily on millennials, encouraging the incorporation of wellness through interactive entertainment and wellness events into daily lifestyles. He is creating this new social form of community connection through the rapidly growing Vllg Jam. Lyonzo is on his way to building/manifesting a mainstream platform encouraging holistic healing for marginalized communities, inevitably changing the world.Justin G.Jun 26 4:31 PMJustin G.Jun 26 4:31 PMMaura McCarthy joined Fairmount Park Conservancy as its Executive Director on November 1, 2019. For the past 13 years, Maura has been the executive director of Friends of the Wissahickon, Philadelphia’s only professionally staffed Park Friends group, harnessing over 10,000 hours of volunteer engagement each year to support a National Recreation Trail and an 1,800-acre National Natural Landmark.A native to the Philadelphia region, McCarthy has a strong record of public service. She currently serves on the Green City, Clean Waters Steering Committee for Philadelphia Water Department and was a member of Mayor Jim Kenney’s Transition Team on Environment & Sustainability. She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. She also received a Certificate in Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp

Nature!

Maura McCarthy joined Fairmount Park Conservancy as its Executive Director on November 1, 2019. For the past 13 years, Maura has been the executive director of Friends of the Wissahickon, Philadelphia’s only professionally staffed Park Friends group, harnessing over 10,000 hours of volunteer engagement each year to support a National Recreation Trail and an 1,800-acre National Natural Landmark.

A native to the Philadelphia region, McCarthy has a strong record of public service. She currently serves on the Green City, Clean Waters Steering Committee for Philadelphia Water Department and was a member of Mayor Jim Kenney’s Transition Team on Environment & Sustainability. She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. She also received a Certificate in Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp

Erin Daly is the Founder and Executive Director of Dignity Rights International, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing and protecting human dignity and the dignity rights of vulnerable people throughout the world through education, advocacy, and litigation. Current projects include work with the International Organization for Migration to develop a framework on Migration with Dignity, a partnership with the American Bar Association to bring dignity to the practice of law, and litigation and advocacy to protect kids who live in the poorest area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti from the environmental pollution that surrounds them, harming their mental and physical health and threatening their sense of dignity.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp, WordPress.com, and, Basecamp

This CreativeMornings Philadelphia event was generously hosted by our partners at The Navy Yard  and  FS Investments

Tayyib Smith is Principle of Meta Global, parent company to Little Giant Creative. He is dedicated to cultural competency and the ability to engage multicultural audiences. He co-founded Pipeline Philly to serve as an inviting and dynamic co-working space filled with professionals from various backgrounds and industries, creating one of the most diverse workspaces in the city.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp and WordPress.com

All photos taken by Steve Weinik and Endrit Faslliaj

This CreativeMornings Philadelphia event was generously hosted by our partners at The Navy Yard  and  FS Investments

Tayyib Smith is Principle of Meta Global, parent company to Little Giant Creative. He is dedicated to cultural competency and the ability to engage multicultural audiences. He co-founded Pipeline Philly to serve as an inviting and dynamic co-working space filled with professionals from various backgrounds and industries, creating one of the most diverse workspaces in the city.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp and WordPress.com

All photos taken by Steve Weinik and Endrit Faslliaj

This CreativeMornings Philadelphia event was generously hosted by our partners at The Navy Yard  and  FS Investments

Tayyib Smith is Principle of Meta Global, parent company to Little Giant Creative. He is dedicated to cultural competency and the ability to engage multicultural audiences. He co-founded Pipeline Philly to serve as an inviting and dynamic co-working space filled with professionals from various backgrounds and industries, creating one of the most diverse workspaces in the city.

The event was sponsored globally by MailChimp and WordPress.com

All photos taken by Steve Weinik and Endrit Faslliaj