Product design manager, Facebook and co-founder, Geekadelphia
My Greatest Accomplishment:
The continued growth and success of The Philadelphia Geek Awards, which honor the brightest, positive, geek minds in the city. The awards were an outgrowth of Geekadelphia, a news blog for Philadelphia’s tech community that I helped create in 2007. I’m also proud of my contribution to the design community as a former lead designer of P’unk Avenue, a mission-driven agency in South Philly that only partners with organizations that align with their goals of a better Philadelphia (and citizenry) through urbanism, health and wellness, education and social good. In January 2014, I moved to San Francisco to work for Facebook, where I decided to serve as the design lead for Business.Facebook.com, a new business tool aimed at advertisers. Having never worked in advertising before (and actually despising most advertising) I felt that this was a big challenge. I’m leading a team of talented designers in building the next great advertising product.
It will be released in early 2015. In my spare time I’ve been able to “hack” on a few projects, such as a method by which people can quickly donate money via Facebook to a few worthy causes such as ALS or research for Ebola treatment.
How Drexel Helped:
The graphic design faculty taught me the hard design skills, but the co-op program was where I learned how to be an independently employed designer where discipline and work ethic were equally important to develop alongside the craft and execution.
Where I’ll Be in Five Years:
Back on the East Coast.