Baltimore Power Moves: The region’s women in tech grieve collectively in nature

Congratulations continue for the RealLIST Engineers of 2023, who are moving with power as tech innovators, educators and advocates, driving the tech ecosystem in Baltimore.

Here are some other notable power moves and movers in Baltimore:

A leadership shift

EcoMap Technologies, a Baltimore-based AI software company, has named Sherrod Davis as its CEO. Davis was promoted from his prior position as COO by EcoMap’s board of directors after the untimely loss of his cofounder and CEO Pava LaPere. Davis shared his plans for the new role in a recent discussion with Technical.ly.

Staying connected in times of grief

2023 RealLIST Connector Maddy Stokes, the COO of UpSurge Baltimore, and Sam Novak, formerly with Impact Hub Baltimore and now with Loam, came together to organize a grief walk following the death of LaPere. Stokes shared her connection with Novak and Loam in an email to Technical.ly.

“I met Sam Novak at an Emergent Leadership training weekend hosted by Impact Hub in the first fall of COVID (2020),” she said. “It was my first time back in community with other people. Being in nature taught us a lot about what it meant to reconnect and made me feel human again.”

“How we take care of each other is a core part of an Equitech culture where our work is sustainable and our humanity is as important as what we build/create,” Stokes added.

The grief walks held on Oct. 6 and 13 grew out of the collective expressions of sorrow, commitment to upholding Pava’s legacy and other shared emotions by many women in Baltimore’s tech ecosystem.

Discussions of keeping the walks as a monthly series are afoot. Loam is also hosting a “Relational Facilitation Workshop” for anyone looking to center relationships as a value and goal of their work on Nov. 8.

Register for the Workshop

Baltimore’s a federal tech hub

The Biden-Harris administration, in collaboration with the US Economic Development Administration’s Tech Hubs program, recently introduced 31 Tech Hubs across the US. Baltimore is one of them. Mark Anthony Thomas, CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, represented the local Tech Hubs consortium and introduced President Joe Biden during an official announcement at the White House on Oct. 23. You can watch the recap of that announcement below:

Updates and honors for Loyola educators

Following in the footsteps of Bill Romani, Loyola University Maryland has appointed Jon Weinstein as the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He is also an assistant teaching professor at the Sellinger School of Business and Management.

In addition, Sellinger School Professor of Information Systems Gloria Phillips-Wren was recognized with the University of Piraeus’ Department of Informatics’ Honorary Award. The Greek university’s honor celebrated Phillips-Wren’s scholarly achievements and contributions to the field of intelligent decision technologies.

More Power Moves

• Dowtnown Partnership of Baltimore (DPOB) commemorates 40 years of a commitment to Downtown Baltimore at its annual meeting on Nov 9. In addition, DPOB BOOST winner MRI Studios hosted a workshop for aspiring musicians, writers that was featured on IKE kiosks.
• Ryan Brennan recently took on the role of head of business development at Previse. Brennan aims to establish the company’s flagship product, Esopredict, as the premier global predictive test for evaluating the risk of esophageal cancer in patients with Barrett’s Esophagus. This information was shared in a press release sent to Technical.ly.
• Ellicott City-based Blackpoint Cyber, a provider of SaaS-based managed detection and response (MDR) solutions, has introduced a cloud response that a press release described as the first cloud-based MDR solution for Single Sign-On (SSO) security.
• CompTIA, a widely recognized and taught IT certification and training organization, has been honored with the 2023 Leadership and Service Award by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This award recognizes CompTIA’s role in empowering individuals with the confidence and skills required to excel in the field of technology.
• Girl in Space Club founder Sabrina Thompson, who’s been based Baltimore since 2019, is featured in National Geographic magazine’s October issue on space.