“Growing & Diversifying Brooklyn's Innovation Economy”
A Center for an Urban Future (CUF), Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, DUMBO Improvement District, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and Industry City Policy Symposium

Friday, June 21, 2019
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

@  BRIC Theater 
647 Fulton Street

Brooklyn has emerged as a national leader in the innovation economy, with the borough’s growth in tech startups, creative companies and innovative manufacturers outpacing the rest of New York City and many other leading cities. This conference explored how Brooklyn can keep this growth going, and how to ensure that a lot more Brooklyn residents from lower-income backgrounds are able to access the well-paying jobs that are being created in the innovation economy.

The discussion featured NYCEDC President James Patchett; leaders from innovative Brooklyn companies such as AbelCine, Blue State Digital, ConsenSys, CARMERA, Etsy, M Factory, and Revivn; and several of the borough’s leading experts on education and workforce development.

The forum featured two high-level panel discussions. Speakers included:

Panel 1: Sustaining & Growing Brooklyn’s Innovation Economy
James Patchett, President, NYCEDC
Pete Abel, CEO & Co-Founder, AbelCine
Mike Conlow, Head of Tech Consulting, Blue State Digital
Jessie Lazarus, Head of Mobility Business Development, CARMERA; former NYC Chief Digital Officer
Thomas Rush, Head of Platform, Labs, ConsenSys

Panel 2: Expanding Access to Jobs in Brooklyn’s Innovation Economy
Faith Corbett, Assistant Vice President, Public Affairs and Partnerships; NYC College of Technology, CUNY
Darryle Hawes, Machine Operations Manager, M Factory
Quardean Lewis-Allen, Founder and CEO, Made in Brownsville
Aaron Shiffman, Executive Director, Brooklyn Workforce Innovations
Jack Simon, Warehouse Manager, Revivn
Adetoro Adegbola​, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Etsy
 

Schedule

8:00       Registration + Breakfast
8:45       Welcome + Introductory Remarks
9:00       Panel 1: Sustaining & Growing Brooklyn's Innovation Economy
10:30     Panel 2: Expanding Opportunity for Brooklyn Residents in the Innovation Economy
11:50     Closing   

^{Photo Credit: Brett Jordan/Unsplash}