Jamie,
Words cannot adequately express how grateful we are to have had you as UpSurge’s founding leader.
It is no small feat to deliver a vision for the city and an aspiration for our community that everyone can embrace. Equitech can bring leaders from across the city together to create life-changing opportunities and generational change for Baltimoreans and become a model for equitable economic growth around the world.
To quote you directly, “Equitech is how Baltimore leads.”
It takes a willingness to listen, an appetite to learn, and a desire to create with and not for, and most importantly, it takes time. The good news is, we are well on our way! You have run your leg of this race well and gotten us much closer to our destination than we could have ever imagined in just 3 years.
Another favorite Jamie McDonald quote, “A movement is not a movement until it moves without you.” Well, this movement you’ve helped to lead your entire career towards diverse leadership, equitable systems and practices, and a culture of belonging in tech is moving. Evidenced by the work being done in our communities and at our institutions and the momentum we are currently experiencing at the city and state levels. You were one of the first to lean into that boulder, but now there is an army of us pushing that rock up the hill.
I know you don’t like being the center of attention and letting the work speak for itself, but we look forward to celebrating you this week and speaking to the impact you have had on our lives and this ecosystem this week at Equitech Tuesday.
Thank you, Jamie!
Kory
Don’t forget to 📸 a picture while you are there and #ThisIsEquitech when you post!