WeDC will have a whopping 27 ambassadors at SXSW this year

D.C.’s innovators, makers and creatives gathered at the Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square last Friday night for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership’s WeDC South by Southwest kickoff party. There was live music, plenty of DC Brau to go around and lots of District pride.

At the #WeDC roll call party. (Screenshot)

For the fifth year running WDCEP is bringing it’s #WeDC campaign back to Austin, a campaign that aims to showcase what makes D.C. cool. This year, it seems, the focus is on D.C.’s inclusive innovation credentials. And as always WDCEP will be bringing in the big guns to prove D.C.’s cool factor — a lineup of local “innovators” who will serve as D.C. brand ambassadors from March 11-13.

This year the ambassador lineup is deep — 27 deep, to be specific.

Here’s who will be representing #WeDC in Austin:

• Monica Kang, Founder, InnovatorsBox
• Ebony Pope, Senior Manager, US Ventures at Village Capital
• Tara  Lewis, Senior Regional Director of Marketing, Yelp
• Janice Omadeke, Founder and CEO, The Mentor Method
• Xina Eiland, President and CEO, X+PR and cofounder of Black Female Founders
• Amy Millman, President, Springboard Enterprises
• Merav Yuravlivker, CEO, Data Society
• Svetlana Legetic, Cofounder, BYT Media
• Maggie O’Neill, Cofounder, Swatchroom
• Jen Mellon, Founder and President, Trustify
• G. Nagesh Rao, Chief Technologist, U.S. SBA
• Harry Alford III, Cofounder, Humble Ventures
• Johnny Ray Austin, Engineering Lead, Social Tables
• Aaron Saunders, CEO and Founder, Clearly Innovative Inc.
• Chris Bradshaw, Founder and Executive Director, Dreaming Out Loud, Inc.
• Zak Kidd, Cofounder, Swingspace
• Kelly Towles, Artist
• Jeff Sheely, Cofounder, UrbanStems
• Lee Finkel, CEO, BraveUX and angel investor
• Chris Naoum, Founder, ListenLocalFirst
• Robert Kinsler, Founder and CEO, United Fray
• Evan Burfield, Cofounder and CEO, 1776
• Kokayi
• Ian Fay
• Marcus Dowling
• Kate Warren
• Kate Zaremba