DBP’s Make It in Brooklyn Meetup: Tech for Good Panel brought together innovative minds and a large audience to explore how technology can drive meaningful social change. Moderated by Sergio Marrero from Blue Ridge Labs, the event featured two dynamic panels that showcased different approaches to using tech for good.
The first panel featured Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel, and Jenni Warren, Decoded Futures Program Director at Tech:NYC Foundation, who shared insights on creating sustainable tech solutions with social impact.
Jimmy shared how Propel created the country’s first mobile banking app for EBT cards, replacing the cumbersome 1-800 number system with a free, user-friendly app. Chen emphasized the importance of defining metrics that align business goals with social impact.”If you’re a for-profit company with a social impact mission, the key is defining an impact metric that both drives your mission and achieves the objectives of your business,” Chen explained. For Propel, this unified metric is monthly active users – a clear indication of social value that simultaneously drives their revenue model through advertising.
Jenni Warren highlighted the Tech:NYC Foundation’s work in connecting technology experts with nonprofits that lack access to technical resources. The foundation focuses on building partnerships between technologists and community organizations to ensure all communities can benefit from technological advancements. Warren noted that nonprofits face significant challenges in adopting new technologies, including limited capacity, competing priorities, and resource constraints.
Left to right: Sergio Marrero, Jimmy Chen, Jenni Warren
“Everyone deserves access to this incredible technology,” Warren emphasized. “We’re committed to working with the community and supporting and lifting up the community to solve those problems.”
The second panel featured NYU Tandon School of Engineering professors Yuki Miura and Dr. Takahiro Yabe, who highlighted how data science and AI can address urban challenges, particularly in climate resilience and mobility.
Yuki Miura, Assistant Professor at NYU Tandon Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), discussed her work using data to identify socioeconomic impacts from climate change and natural disasters. She analyzes historical data from events like Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Ida to forecast future scenarios and their potential impacts on communities, infrastructure, and businesses.
“I look at how people are going to be impacted, and also building infrastructure, how much may be destroyed,” Miura explained. Her research examines cascading effects when critical systems fail, using revenue data and demographic information to understand who is most affected by climate disasters.
Left to right: Sergio Marrero, Yuki Miura, Dr. Takahiro Yabe
Dr. Takahiro Yabe, Assistant Professor at the Department of Technology Management and Innovation (TMI) and the Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP),. shared insights from his work on urban mobility and economic resilience, including a National Science Foundation-funded project to optimize the placement of EV charging stations. The project uses AI models to predict not just driver utility but also economic spillover effects for nearby businesses. Yabe also highlighted their work on “generative agents” – using generative AI to model complex human behavior and predict movement patterns during both normal conditions and crises.
Both panels illuminated crucial principles for technology-driven social impact, highlighting the importance of aligning business and social metrics for sustainable solutions while building trust through consistent demonstration of mission commitment. The discussions underscored the value of applied research that addresses real-world urban challenges through meaningful stakeholder partnerships, with organizations advised to cultivate diverse funding relationships to maintain momentum during shifting political and funding landscapes. Chen noted that regardless of who i‘s in power, “the consumer needs don’t actually change… there are still hungry people out there.” Warren emphasized TechNYC commitment to “digging our heels in” to support organizations solving challenging problems.
The event highlighted Brooklyn’s growing role as a hub for socially responsible technology innovation, bringing together diverse stakeholders committed to leveraging tech for meaningful societal impact. Through continued collaboration and committed leadership, the tech-for-good movement shows promising potential to address some of our most pressing social challenges.
Make It in Brooklyn supports entrepreneurship and strengthens Brooklyn’s innovation ecosystem with its series of pitch contests, meetups, panels and more. These events have brought together hundreds of entrepreneurs across industries and have provided over $120,000 in seed money and pro-bono professional services.
The panelists pose with DBP President Regina Myer
Thanks to our event sponsors:
