1776 names Jennifer Maher as sole CEO as part of leadership shift

Seven month after announcing its merger with Benjamin’s Desk, 1776 announced a shift to its leadership team.

Going forward, Jennifer Maher will be the sole CEO of the incubator network, which now has 10 campuses in Philly, Brooklyn and D.C. A commercial real estate broker and former corporate litigator, Maher will be leading expansion efforts as well as operations.

Anthony Maher, who served as co-CEO with Jenn Maher since the merger was announced in October, will now be Chief Growth Officer and Head of Incubation, leading engagement with new members and its services for entrepreneurs.

Jenn and Anthony Maher are in-laws who cofounded Benjamin’s Desk in 2012 along with Mike Maher, who is the husband of Jenn and brother of Anthony. Mike Maher has since left to found real estate startup Houwzer.

In a third new role, former entrepreneur-in-residence Ron Braunfeld will now be president of the company, focusing on services and partnerships with corporations. Braunfeld brings a background in business development at companies such as MapQuest, PayPal and SnipSnap.

We're refining our focus and expanding our leadership team to ensure proper growth, member engagement, and operational excellence. Read more: https://t.co/xseVbn9QxL pic.twitter.com/QFNR12PhSo

— 76 Forward (@76FWD) May 7, 2018

Maher described the shift to our sister site Technical.ly Philly “an internal restructuring aimed at having clearer, more defined roles now that we’ve grown our footprint.”

“The board believed that the combined assets required a new focus and an expanded leadership team to ensure  operational excellence,” 1776 Board Member David Hall said in a statement. “We believe Jenn Maher and her team will lead 1776 successfully forward in this next phase of growth.”

The company now has 2,700 individual members. When 1776 announced a newly combined brand last month, there was talk of expansion to more cities in the near future.

In the D.C. area, renovations were recently completed at 1776’s Crystal City campus, and a “physical refresh” is planned at the D.C. campus this summer, according to a spokesperson. Enhanced programming is also expected in the fall.