A longtime fixture of the Philadelphia burlesque scene, Liberty Rose brings extensive film and costume experience to the stage with her series of high-production scripted shows spanning TV, comics, and movie; this year’s tributes including Star Wars, Labyrinth, Twin Peaks, Game of Thrones, and the films of Hayao Miyazaki. She also co-produces The Philadelphia Burlesque Festival, an annual celebration designed to delight, inspire, and educate audiences about the resurging art form of burlesque.

Marion Leary is a University of Pennsylvania professor, researcher, writer, and an advocate for science, technology, education, arts, and math education—otherwise known as STEAM. This April, she helped lead Philadelphia’s March for Science, which drew thousands to rally around the shared mission to support scientists and enable the use of science to improve society.

M. Asli Dukan is an independent filmmaker who delves into the world of speculative fiction—the genres of fantasy, horror and science fiction—as a way to explore social issues and racial bias. After nearly a decade in the making, her feature documentary “Invisible Universe” explores the representation of black creators in speculative fiction and draws real world connections to racial struggles today.

A sexuaity educator and performer, whose writing has appeared on Philly.com and Philly Weekly among other outlets, produces innumerable nightlife events, the 257 episode strong podcast “Sex with Timaree”, in addition to being an adjunct professor at Widener University, Timaree is a polymath of the body, heart, and soul with a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality Education. She works to create community among the burlesque scene in the area. She speaks regularly in favor of sex positivity and health in all facets of life especially intimate relationships.

Kathryn is a software developer on the Geospatial Insights team at Azavea and volunteer at Girl Develop It and Code for Philly. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Kathryn has been developing software, building websites, and designing databases for over six years.  Anyone who has ever explored sustainable transportation options in and around Philadelphia has likely been assisted by one of her software applications like CyclePhilly and Transit Analyst, which took her to the White House earlier in 2016.

Ariell made an emphasis in creating an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for geeks of all kinds. As the founder of Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Kensington, she is the first African-American female comic book shop owner on the East Coast. True to her mission of creating a place for everyone, Amalgam has become a frequent host to community events and workshops since its opening in December of 2015. Lining its shelves one can find comics by transgender authors, Spanish speakers and African Americans alongside mainstream offerings.

The engagement editor at PlanPhilly, Jon’s been busy hustling away, creating a community of city planners, developers, and community activists.

In addition to his work at PlanPhilly, Jon’s helped found 5^th Square, created the hashtag #urbanphl, and is the co-organizer of Urban Geek Drinks, a monthly happy hour for Philly’s geeky urbanist community.

The Founder and Researcher at EvoXLabs, Sharif is a software engineer, a freelance web developer, and a consultant who is constantly researching web accessibility and jQuery tools to make the Internet a more accessible place. His research on accessible graphs won the Delegates Award for the Most Significant Accessibility Research at WWW’15 Conference. EvoXLabs also develops free and accessible websites for non-profits of Philadelphia and organizes evoHaX, which is a Hackathon on Web Accessibility.

As a developer for Unlock Philly, nominated for the Web Project of the Year at the Philadelphia Geek Awards 2014, he also founded the SCI Video Blog, which is full of tutorial videos that help people with spinal cord injuries perform daily activities and is soon to become a video search engine for wheelchair users.

Ather is a Google Scholar and the Team Lead for a nationwide initiative to organize web development workshops for middle school children, as part of the Google Scholar Engagement Program. This initiative is due to launch early September. Ather also serves as a Technical Strategist and Planner for Enhancing Transportation Awareness for Health, which is a project launched to solve transportation problems for the elderly and disabled in Philadelphia

From her work making Laurel Hill Cemetery a geeky place to hangout to her fantastic lectures during Nerd Nite Philadelphia, Alexis Jeffcoat is a geek with her hands in a lot of projects.

Her work at Laurel Hill Cemetery brought tons of fresh eyes into the historic place, a talent she now brings to the Chemical Heritage Foundation. An active part of the geek community, Alexis can be found collaborating on projects like Science on Tap and the Philadelphia Science Festival.

Drexel University professor Dr. Frank Lee isn’t just a gaming arts professor. He’s a skilled hacker, who brought Philadelphia into the spotlight this spring with his 29-story game of PONG on the Cira Centre. Spotlighted in Fast Company, the Associated Press, The New York Times, NPR, and more, Lee brought attention to Philadelphia with a truly fantastic, awe-inspiring event. He’s the co-founder and co-director of the Drexel Game Design Program, which has been ranked one of the top 10 game design programs in the U.S., and the Replay Lab, a research and development lab in game design at Drexel.