Brigade Congress

April Urban, MSSA from Case Western Reserve University, is a research associate with a passion for building Cleveland’s capacity to use data to solve civic problems. April oversees the Poverty Center’s NEOCANDO data tools, aids in research and community consultation on projects related to the built environment, and often works with community groups seeking the Poverty Center’s help in using community indicators in their work. She is the Poverty Center’s liaison to the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership at the Urban Institute and served on the Executive Committee from 2016-2018. She is the co-creator and co-lead organizer of Data Days CLE, and is a part of the Cleveland Civic Tech and Open Data Collaborative

Ariana Waller was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She has an educational background in Electrical Engineering and software development. After deciding that entrepreneurship was the best path for her success, Ariana moved from Tuskegee, Alabama to where she now resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband, Omar Waller. Wanting to continue her education, Ariana jump-started her tech career in software development by joining one of Michigan’s leading coding boot camps, Grand Circus, in which she became fluent in C-Sharp. In 2018, Ariana Waller launched Adoraa Company, an innovative cosmetics brand that’s developed a method to up-cycle pre-owned cosmetics, saving beauty consumers on average more than 50% off high-end cosmetic products. Ariana is also CTO and co-founder of Dalilah Cann. An all-female tech team, developing Michigan’s first Amazon-style, digital marketplace and delivery service that connects consumers to local cannabis products.

Ariana is passionate about social justice and ensuring that black and brown communities have access to resources. She is the co-founder of the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild, an organization that focuses on advocacy, networking, and guidance for communities of color in the cannabis industry. Ariana is the founder of the global podcast, Women in TECH with Ariana. In less than a year, Ariana launched her podcast, was named one of the top podcasts for women in tech and entrepreneurship by Medium, has over 2,000 consistent listeners, representing 8 countries.

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder and executive director of Code for America. She served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2013–2014, where she architected and helped found the United States Digital Service. She currently serves on the Defense Innovation Board in her personal capacity. She is known for her TED talk, Coding a Better Government, and is the recipient of several awards, including the National Democratic Institute’s Democracy Award and being named by Wired as one of the 25 people who has most shaped the past 25 years. She previously ran the Game Developers Conference, Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, and the Independent Games Festival, followed by the Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 events. She is a graduate of Yale University and lives in Oakland, California with her daughter, husband, and seven chickens.