Why PIDC’s head of IT is being honored with a mural in Germantown

Philadelphians know that on any given block in the city, you’re likely to spot a building-sized artistic rendering. Thanks to a robust Mural Arts program, there are more than 3,600 scattered across the city.

But it’s not often we at Technical.ly get to write about them. So you could color us intrigued when we learned of some art going up in Germantown to honor the successes of economic development organization PIDC’s VP of IT, Shayne Moore.

Moore, who’s led the charge on any and all of PIDC’s tech needs for the last three years, is a graduate of Western Governors University. He’s stayed in touch with the online university, acting as an ambassador, and often engages in community work in his neighborhood and within his church.

Moore has been ordained and serves as an assistant pastor for Trumpet of Zion Tabernacle for 16 years, and is co-director for H.O.P.E. Ministries, a group that volunteers in the Philadelphia prison system. Moore is also VP of Aim For The Net, a program that mentors children through sports.

Shayne Moore. (Photo via LinkedIn)

The university recently called the VP, asking if he’d consider sitting for a mural dedicated to his successes and as an example for younger kids of someone who made a positive life for themselves.

“They wanted to do something near where I grew up so the next generation can see someone who’s been successful educationally, but also in the corporate environment,” Moore said.

He recently visited local artist Eric Okdeh at his Fishtown studio to sit for portraits, and the mural will be unveiled in a ceremony hosted by Western Governors University on Thursday. It sits at the corner of Wayne Avenue and Berkley Street on the border of Germantown and Nicetown.

Moore said he saw the mural in person when it was being outlined, but has intentionally avoided the intersection since then to keep the unveiling a surprise.

Before he joined PIDC, he’d led tech teams at a handful of area nonprofits and organizations, including Philadelphia Works and the Food Bank of South Jersey. Right now, he said, he’s noticed more and more use of cloud computing and storage, like AWS, and sees those skills continuing to increase in demand over the next few years.

“I often say that technology is the same across industries. I’ve worked at nonprofits, worked at large corporations, and the only difference is the budget to which they allow for tech,” Moore said. “The tech is often the same, but you might have to be creative in how you accomplish a goal.”

Muralist Erik Okdeh working on Shayne Moore’s mural. (Photo courtesy Western Governors University)