At the end of 2016 we announced the latest and greatest CfP leadership team (plus what it meant for our previous leadership team). Though we had assembled a strong group to lead projects, the community, and communications, the Events Lead position remained vacant.
Finding someone to help run Code for Philly events has been an ongoing need for our team. None of us get into Code for Philly to plan and run events—at least that I know of, and if there are secret event planners in our community please find us. But paradoxically, events are one of the main ways that we engage our community and keep it active.
We meet every single week and also have seasonal programming like hackathons and launchpads. People who are new to the community come to our Open House night to learn more about what Code for Philly is and what it’s all about. Others come to a hackathon to jump on a project and get their hands dirty with code.
The impact we have as a community that is dedicated to using tech and data to improve the civic infrastructure in Philadelphia is all made possible by the events we run. These events require coordination of logistics, like finding a space, getting catering, and managing the many stakeholders involved.
The Events Lead also looks at CfP strategically—is the event adding value to the community? Is this what our members are interested in? How can we better engage incoming members and support existing teams. As we develop more sophisticated answers to these questions, our community continues to mature and improve.
We’re excited to announce our new Events Lead, Meghan Kelly!
Meghan first got involved with Code for Philly by helping manage our most recent event, the Civic Engagement Launchpad.
At the beginning of the year, Meghan jumped onto the Launchpad planning team and quickly saw opportunities for how we can do even more with our events at Code for Philly. Her enthusiasm and passion made Meghan a great fit for leading events at CfP.
It was at the kickoff for CELaunchpad that we made it official.
Meghan is a User Experience Designer with Elsevier who sometimes dabbles in front-end development. Having recently changed careers from education into technology, she is especially passionate about helping others who are new to the field or hoping to make career changes.
Meghan is excited to bring her event-planning and career-changer experience to Code for Philly to find new and innovative ways of bringing together the Philly tech community and local government. She hopes to make Code for Philly events accessible and welcoming for all, especially newcomers and those from underrepresented populations in tech.
Outside of Code for Philly, Meghan enjoys organizing social events for Girl Develop It, traveling, and keeping up with an inordinate amount of other hobbies.
You can reach Meghan by Slack, email, or in-person at one of our events. If you’re interested in helping the leadership team, please consider joining our support team.
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