Make It in Brooklyn Meetup: Tech for Good Panel

Join Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and New York’s tech community for an evening of networking and learning from innovators who are using technology to tackle pressing challenges in healthcare access, digital banking, social services, and the environment.

Our panelists will share their experiences using technology to drive meaningful change; discussing: 

• Practical strategies for early-stage companies developing tech solutions for social challenges 
• Innovative data-driven strategies for addressing climate and social equity issues 
• Practical approaches to using technology and data for social impact across healthcare, environmental policy, and community services. 

The Panel:

Sergio Marrero (Moderator)
Managing Director, Blue Ridge Labs

Blue Ridge Labs is the innovation lab of the Robin Hood Foundation. He is also the Founder of Rebel One, an investor network focused on accelerating founders for a better world. Previously, Sergio led the George Schultz Innovation Fund at the University of Chicago and worked at Gotham Ventures, PepsiCo, Teach for America, and Deloitte Consulting.

Jimmy Chen | Founder + CEO, Propel

Jimmy Chen is the founder and CEO of Propel, an app used by over 5 million low-income households to manage their government benefits and money. Propel has over 500,000 five-star reviews and has been recognized by the White House, and Propel’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, JPMorganChase, Kevin Durant, and Serena Williams. Jimmy also serves on the boards of Share Our Strength and TechNYC. He was named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and he was a National Finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Jimmy holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where he was an inaugural winner of the President’s Award for the Advancement of the Common Good.

JENNi WARREN | Decoded Futures Program Director, TECH:NYC Foundation

Jenni Warren is the Program Director of Decoded Futures at Tech:NYC, where she leads efforts to empower nonprofits with the transformative potential of AI. With over 15 years of experience in learning and development, she has designed and implemented innovative education and training strategies across diverse contexts, both domestically and internationally. 

Yuki Miura | Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP)

Professor Miura joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU in 2024. She is also a faculty advisory board member at the Volatility and Risk Institute at NYU Stern School of Business. Her research is at the intersection of engineering, climate science, finance, and social sciences. She develops data-driven strategies to mitigate natural hazards and build resilient cities. She has collaborated with the National Center of Atmospheric Research and the governments of New York State/City. Her work has been recognized through publications in leading journals and featured in The New Yorker. Previously, she worked at Morgan Stanley in climate risk management and quantitative strategy. 

Dr. Takahiro Yabe | Assistant Professor, Dept. of Technology Management and INNOVATION (TMI) and Center for Urban Science + PRogress (CUSP)

Dr. Yabe’s research focuses on computational social science and network science approaches to model the resilience of cities to disasters, pandemics, and disruptive mobility technology, and has been published in journals including Nature Human Behaviour, PNAS, Nature Communications, and Nature Machine Intelligence. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Institute of Data, Systems and Society (IDSS) and the MIT Media Lab with Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland and Esteban Moro.  

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