March 2021 

Prosperity & Purpose: Year in Review 2020 is DPP’s second annual report. For a snapshot of the DPP team’s accomplishments, please click on the image to view a flipbook. Comments or questions? We want to hear from you — please email scoulby@choosedelaware.com.

To download a PDF copy of the Report, please click this link: Prosperity & Purpose: Year in Review 2020 (PDF).

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For Becker Morgan Group principal Gregg Moore, one of his greatest joys is creating architectural and engineering projects that produce designs which inspire the users, provide for the community and offer improvements to the areas in which we live. 

“I’ve worked since 1994 on the master plan for Dover International Speedway, from expanding the seating at the Monster Mile to 145,000 to designing the concrete mezzanines and elevators, the parking facilities and the casino and hotel,” he says.

Moore, a licensed civil engineer, says Becker Morgan was one of the first firms to co-locate engineers and architects to foster a greater spirit of collaboration. The lifelong Delaware resident leads the firm’s civil engineering and surveying division and business development efforts and manages the Delaware team of architects, landscape architects, engineers, surveyors and interior designers. He especially enjoys working on projects that are close to his heart.

“It was particularly exciting for me to be able to help prepare the master plan for Bayhealth’s Kent Campus and design the expansion of Kent General Hospital, where I was born,” says Moore, who’s a Bayhealth board member. “Getting to work on Bayhealth’s Sussex Campus in Milford has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on the infrastructure and move the existing hospital to a green field. “

Gregg Moore is also a founding board member of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) and president of the Kent Economic Partnership. He is a board member for several other high-profile local organizations as well.

“We have a great business environment here in Delaware,” he says. “A connected business community can work with the state and influence how things are done, partly because we’re small. The creation of DPP came from the decision to go after business with businesspeople, and it’s been effective.”

Moore also appreciates the quality of engineering students from the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College.

“UD is one of the reasons we opened an office in Newark,” he says. “We hire multiple intern engineers in the summer, and some of our best staff have come from that internship program.”

Moore grew up on the Delaware Bay, so, not surprisingly, boating is a huge passion. He even spent some time as a licensed boat captain.

“It’s part of the fabric of my whole life,” he says. “I spent a lot of time kayaking in the Leipsic River when it was still untouched. I can remember kayaking and thinking there were two alligators that turned out to be 3-foot-wide snapping turtles with really long tails.”

Learn more about Moore – and gain some wisdom applicable to any career field – through the answers he gave to the following quick questions:

What’s the question you wish more people would ask themselves?

“Am I really enjoying what I’m doing? What are my long-term goals and am I planning for that?” We tend to get distracted by life and “miss” our goals because we never set or established them.

What’s the pebble in your shoe, that thing that tends to derail you?

Bureaucracy. I’ve seen an increase over the years nationwide in how it affects the creative process of design. It can add some costs, but here in Delaware, we can interact with our government and discuss those things. There are places where that doesn’t happen, and we work in some of those places.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Set your goals and plan to get there. My parents taught me that, exposing me to people so I knew what I wanted to do when I got to college. In addition, my mentor, the late John E. Richter, reinforced that.

What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleeping on a project you were passionate about?

Some of my sleepless nights have come before public presentations so I can figure out how to explain a project that has taken years to create to the public in an hour. That can be much more difficult than figuring out how to design it.

What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

I was able to pick a field I love from the very beginning. I’ve only worked for two companies in my life and enjoyed both of them. My advice would be to know what you want to do and reach for it and enjoy it. That’s difficult to do when you’re 18 or 20. You have to talk to people, investigate, understand and be lucky. I’ve always believed luck is a tremendous component, but when you set yourself up to do the right thing, maybe it’s not luck. Maybe it’s destiny.

Do you have a favorite failure?

I let my fishing boat captain’s license lapse in my 30s. Now that I’m near 60, I might enjoy doing that in my retirement. I talk about setting goals, but life changes and we have to adapt. I should have looked ahead.

In the last five years, have you gotten better at saying no?

When you get in your 50s and 60s, you have more experience and wisdom to bring to bear. I’m continually striving to achieve a better work/life balance and realize now that time is our greatest gift. I do enjoy giving back, so that remains important, but I try not to overextend myself.

When you feel overwhelmed, get distracted, or lose your focus, what do you do?

I work out. I don’t take my phone to the gym. I think about what I’m going to do, and I organize my thoughts in a way you can’t do with pods in your ears. Working out helps me both decompress and recharge.

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Jonathan Whitney describes himself as “a creative, a connector and a composer who loves learning and problem-solving.” But what makes his heart sing?

“When I’m playing with a group of musicians and the audience gets where we’re going and we’re all going there together,” he says.

The drummer and “artivist” – a combination of artist and activist – received his degree in music education from the University of Delaware and immediately got a job as band director at the Tatnall School for 11 years. He lived in Philadelphia for six years and earned a master’s degree in jazz studies there. But he was pulled back to his native Delaware.

“I love this city – the artistic community in this city is tight,” Whitney says. “In Delaware, we all talk across genres. In a given day, I can run into a painter, a spoken-word poet, a jazz musician and a classical musician, and we’re all bouncing ideas off each other. 

“People here aren’t creating art for art’s sake – they’re creating it to improve Wilmington and tell the story of the people who live here.”

Whitney’s fingerprints are all over the city. They’re also all over the city’s efforts to respond to the nation’s racial climate.

“I’m digesting that in many different ways,” he says. “Five pieces on my album released in November 2020 took inspiration from local artist Eunice LaFate’s paintings and created music that searches for understanding and solutions. My next album is a series of arrangements of spirituals and gospel music through a jazz lens.”

And then there are the murals.

In May 2020, Whitney and fellow artivist Eliza Jarvis had just watched local protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. They and Delaware photographer Joe del Tufo decided to commission artists to paint over the plywood boards installed to cover damaged windows on downtown Wilmington buildings. They connected funders to the artists, who created works at locations that included Spaceboy Clothing on North Market Street. 

The mural success led Whitney – who received a $6,000 Established Art Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts in 2020 – and Jarvis to form Flux Creative Consulting. There, they’re creating events for corporations, nonprofits and government agencies to engage communities through the arts, with a focus on amplification of the great things that are already going on in Delaware.

Their aim, he says, is to continue to empower the broader community to have conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. He notes that they saw more conversations in the six months after the death of George Floyd than they had during the previous six months – even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What I love about Delaware is that leaders in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds are willing to mentor people that they see are engaged,” he says. “Delaware is all about partnering and leveraging resources because we’re small. We don’t have the silos here that you often see.”

“There are just so many ways for people to engage with the arts in Delaware.”

Whitney finds creative inspiration throughout the state, starting with Rehoboth Beach. “It’s great to walk along the beach and know that Wilmington is only 90 minutes away,” he says. He also lists the Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, the Gibraltar Gardens in Wilmington and the sculpture garden at the Delaware Art Museum, where he previously worked as manager of performance programs and community engagement, as inspirational sites.

He also mentions the monthly First Friday Art Loop, “where you can walk between The Delaware Contemporary art space and the Chris White Gallery at the Shipley Lofts.” 

In terms of performing arts, Whitney notes the new Mid South Audio recording studio in Milton.  He also says he can’t wait for Nomad Bar to reopen for live performances. 

Whitney closed his interview by answering a few quick questions:

• What’s the question you wish more people would ask themselves?
  

How can I love more?

• What’s the pebble in your shoe – that thing that tends to derail you?
  

I’m always trying to figure out how to reach more people, always worrying about wasting the gifts I was given. I’m a workaholic, and sometimes I can’t make myself satisfied with the work I’m doing. And that takes me out of my rhythm.

• What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
  

“It’s not about forcing people to do what you want. It’s about finding a way for them to move in the direction you want on their own,” from Chet Tietsworth, another legendary drummer from New Jersey.

• What do you love about teaching?
  

Watching those lightbulb moments all day long, when students say, “Oh, I get it!” or “Oh, I can do that.”

• What gets you out of bed in the morning?
  

Two little girls and the arts. When I open my eyes in the morning, I’m already thinking about what today brings and what I’m going to do to make the world a better place for them.

Kurt Foreman

PRESIDENT & CEO

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Just two years ago, CEO Stephanie Eldridge and CIO Tariq Hook launched the learning center Code Differently, and their impact since cannot be overstated.

In the technology sector, women represent 25% of the workforce while Black females represent only 3% and Hispanic females only 1%. Code Differently aims to increase diversity within the technology workplace. Enrollees range from adult college computer science or engineering majors to high school students. The makeup of Code Differently’s classes are 98% Black and Latinx, and within that 40% are female. 

“Diversity and inclusion has not only been a part of our mission from the beginning,” Eldridge says, “it’s frankly been a part of our lives.”

Eldridge grew up in Aliquippa, a small town in Western Pennsylvania that she describes as “a tech desert.” Aliquippa is a blue-collar town that was once booming with steel mills. Once the steel mills declined, the economy declined and the educational system was impacted. Her time in Aliquippa became the foundation that motivated her into creating a different possibility.

Eldridge attended Morgan State University, one of the United States’ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which at the time graduated the most Black engineers in the nation. She arrived in Delaware based on geographic convenience.

“My boyfriend at the time, now my husband, was living in Philadelphia, and I was working in the Baltimore/D.C. area,” she recalls. “We decided Delaware was the perfect midpoint.”

Eldridge and Hook were both working as technologists in Delaware when they met. She was an executive director at JPMorgan Chase at the Delaware Tech Center, and he was an executive director of education at Tech Impact. Code Differently is now on the Wilmington Riverfront, in the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce building’s Emerging Enterprise Center.

“The great thing about Wilmington is, if you need to catch a train, you are right there downtown,” Eldridge says. “You can be in Philly, Baltimore, D.C. and New York faster than you could drive.”

Code Differently’s 2020 cohort has 43 students, 10 of which are from Delaware State University.

The intention was to have all 43 here in Delaware for the summer “to see all of the great things about Wilmington and Delaware itself,” Eldridge notes. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic made this impossible.

Seven of the 21 Code Differently students from last year ended up relocating to Delaware after recognizing the opportunities and resources here.

“We are great creators of technologists here in Delaware,” Eldridge says, “but we’re also great importers of technologists.”

Eldridge is reminded constantly about the benefits Delaware has provided for their business.

“I don’t know another location where you are one degree of separation away from any need,” she says. “When we look outside of our windows, we see the backdrop of the companies that we serve most. When I look to the left, I see JPMorgan Chase, the top employer of our university program, and the Barclaycard and Capital One buildings, who support our high school work-based learning program along with JPMorgan Chase. It is really helpful that the decision-makers from these companies are actually located in Delaware.”

Code Differently – Fueled by a Powerful Network

The most powerful piece of Code Differently is their network. 

“We are able to rely on diverse people who are already in the technology industry, and that network has increased tenfold over the last year,” Eldridge says. “So we have this family of corporations willing to help guide each student in ways that were not traditionally available.”

The number of small businesses that are downtown also has been a win-win.

“It gives us a vision for where people started and where they can go, the importance of supporting people in your network,” Eldridge says. “We love collaborating with other businesses at The Mill or meeting clients at The Green Box. We take full advantage of the uniqueness that small businesses like us have to offer.”

Having been challenged with fitting people into boxes that aren’t one-size-fits-all, Code Differently decided to build their programs, well, differently. For example, approximately 80% of those in Code Differently’s university programs work 30 hours or more each week while they are in college. This means less time to focus on studies and often lower GPAs. Many also have less access to the technology needed to excel in those classes.

“Imagine you are a computer science major, COVID hits and you are at home, and now you have no access to the computer lab in your university,” Eldridge says. “We try to remove those barriers. We provide a stipend so they don’t have to work, we provide them with equipment and internet access, and we focus on their professional development.” 

The majority of students at Code Differently are first-generation college students. Many of them “come from families that don’t have the life experience or coaching on how to operate in corporate America,” Eldridge notes.

Code Differently looks at themselves holistically within the tech field. “We don’t want to be all things to all people,” Eldridge says. “If there are programs already out there that we could partner with, we do.”

For example, Code Differently partnered with the New Castle County Summer Youth Program. They came up with the idea that, instead of just having the students work in the brick and mortar location, they could create a software development shop that could teach high school students how to create websites and mobile apps as a work-based learning experience. Partnering with the New Castle County government and the Meyer Administration has been a major game-changer for the local youth.

“There are very few internships and apprenticeship opportunities for high school students in tech,” Eldridge notes. “So right now we have 40 students working with us, virtually, from 12 to 5 p.m. every day. And we are able to work with our partner companies — JPMorgan Chase, Barclaycard, CSC and local small businesses we have in our network to provide mentorship or real projects for our kids so they are getting real work experience. And by bringing in real engineers and developers to talk to the students, real relationships and experiences are occurring organically at the high school level.”

In addition to corporate partnerships, the Department of Labor, New Castle VoTech, Colonial School District, and Rodel Foundation are contributors to this effort. “It’s a great example of a private/public partnership that benefits the future career choices and development of teens,” Eldridge says. 

The Results Speak for Themselves

The results speak for themselves, and Code Differently has begun shifting the statistics that go back to the beginning of technology. “Out of the last group of high school students that have since graduated, every one of them is going on to higher learning and 80% are going into computer science or IT-related fields. And this becomes a pipeline for colleges that we partner with, like Delaware State University, who will begin providing university mentors for our program.” 

What single change would she like to see in the Delaware School system?

“Embed technology in any subject that is taught in a school district,” she says without hesitation. “If you want to be an investment banker, you need to know how to write scripts to analyze data. If you want to open a restaurant, having an understanding of what goes into an ordering app or reservation system, especially in situations like the one we are in, is essential.”

“Technology is embedded into everyday life. It is an accessory to everything we do. If COVID has taught us anything, it is that the way we continue to run society is through technology.”

Eldridge believes that the biggest misconception about technology is that it is too hard – and that anything with great reward takes work. A lot of people feel defeated when they hear the word “coding,” she says, so she’ll use more relatable phrasing, such as inviting potential participants to come help “build a mobile game using technology.”

“In the Black community, the biggest misconception is ‘I can’t do it’ which has its reasons,” Eldridge says. “There are not enough people in the industry that look like Tariq and me to give them the confidence that they could possibly do it.”

Using Delaware and its location, resources, and community as a springboard, Code Differently is changing the face of technology with velocity and passion. Code Differently is now working with New Castle County to expand efforts to reach adults who are facing employment challenges and require job training to enter the technology field. Eldridge expects the venture to succeed.

Why? Because the mantra Eldridge likes to share about Delaware is, “We get things done here.”

Kurt Foreman

PRESIDENT & CEO

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January 22, 2021 – 

Women currently hold 20% of board seats for companies listed on the NASDAQ and the Russell 3000 index and account for half of all new board appointments to companies on the S&P 500. Women can be powerful allies for one another — and for Delaware — as they earn more and more seats at the leadership table on corporate and nonprofit boards.

Delaware Prosperity Partnership Board of Directors member Doneene Keemer Damon, president and director of the prominent Delaware law firm Richards, Layton & Finger, PA, and Board chair for DPP partner ChristianaCare, recently joined Carter Franke, chair of the Board of Directors at Sallie Mae, for the candid conversation “Women as Allies in the Board Room” as part of the “Allyship, Advocacy and Accompliceship” webinar series. The series was hosted by the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business & Economics Women’s Leadership Initiative and supported by DPP; Richards, Layton & Finger; ChristianaCare; SallieMae; and other sponsors.

DPP is grateful to Damon and the three additional exceptional women leaders on its Board of Directors – Jeanmarie Desmond, retired chief financial officer of DuPont; Robin Morgan, Ph.D., provost of the University of Delaware; and Richelle Vible, executive director of Catholic Charities – for their service. What follows is a Q & A of Damon’s perspective on board diversity and women as allies in the board room.

Why is board diversity so important and, more specifically, why is it important to have women at the table?

DKD: Having a diverse board and management team means better outcomes for businesses and organizations. Women and other minorities bring perspectives based on their life experiences that are vastly different from those of other members. Boards should represent the communities they serve, and those communities are most certainly diverse. Having individuals who can look at decisions with different lenses helps the board land on a better decision and results in better outcomes.

How does having a diverse board lead to different and better decisions?

DKD: While I can’t speak to the experience of all African Americans or of all women, I can speak to my own experiences. Having someone in the room who can talk about his or her own experience — whether as a woman or as a minority — allows the organization to have a much deeper conversation around disparities and around how the community perceives the organization. It also helps the organization understand how the community receives information and helps effectuate change to better address those issues. It’s difficult to have that perspective in a room of all white males, and that really matters in some very important decisions. Unless we have the right representation in the room to bring credence and context, we won’t get to the right decisions. Also, women often bring an empathetic lens to the conversation, which helps a board get to the right outcome. Having women in the room absolutely makes a difference!

Are women natural allies, and what does it mean to be an ally in the boardroom? Is there a trickle-down impact from the board to women in the organization?

DKD: The expectation that all women think in identical ways is not necessarily true. We do think similarly, but not identically. Being an ally doesn’t mean we always agree on every point, but women tend to be supportive in identifying others who can be effective leaders and creating a path to placement — and then helping those women to develop and grow.

Allyship is about giving women a voice.

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January 20, 2021 –

If Stephen Sye, CEO of Futures First Gaming, has his way, his company will have planted the seed that germinates the entire Delmarva region esports industry. Esports, or electronic sports, is a style of competitive sports played through the medium of video games – particularly multiplayer games played by professionals as individuals or part of a team. 

“We’re a STEM.org Accredited™ esports and educational organization focused on growing and cultivating the esports community and industry in the region,” said Sye. “With the exception of the University of Delaware, the state itself has only a small underground scene right now as it relates to gaming culture – especially in comparison to other places like Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City.” 

The organization, which launched in February 2020, is taking several approaches to its mission simultaneously. Futures First Gaming’s business model rests on four pillars, said Sye. The first is to advocate growth in the state’s existing esports industry, the second is to personally host competitive and recreational events to create opportunities for involvement, the third is to hold educational programs focusing on workforce development and the fourth is to work with schools and universities to launch their own esports teams to engage in tournaments.     

Though their goals are ambitious, Sye believes now, more than ever, is the time for this effort. Gaming has long suffered from a perception problem – but that’s on the cusp of changing in a big way, he says. 

“For a long time, a good portion of the population has felt that playing video games is a waste of time, but this industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and the opportunities for lucrative careers and entrepreneurship are growing every year,” said Sye. “Look at it this way: There was a League of Legends Championship in 2018 that had more than 200 million viewers tune in. That was more viewership than the Super Bowl, NBA finals, and Major League Baseball game seven had that year combined. There are gaming events in this space that are selling out venues like the Staples Center in 12 minutes.”

Perhaps a function of changing tastes, it’s been long predicted that esports will supplant traditional sports in popularity. Sye says that ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the time window in which this was expected to happen has shortened.

“Viewership of esports was already expected to eclipse that of traditional sports by 2022 – but now with COVID limiting audiences and introducing a lot of unknowns in terms of schedule, esports has a huge advantage,” he said. “Esports is projected to be a $300 billion global industry by 2025. That’s huge. And it comes with an enormous amount of opportunity and career pathways.” 

Gaming Camp

Hoping to nurture the next generation’s desire to enter the esports industry, Sye said, the company held its inaugural Futures First Camp this past summer. 

“It was a virtual summer camp this year, but it was 100 hours total,” said Sye. “Our Futures First Program focuses on esports, coding, gamin, and entrepreneurship. Over four weeks, our team worked with students from 8th to 12th grade for five hours per day. Two hours were devoted to coding and game design – with the help of our partners Coderrific Academy and Code Differently. Then there was one hour for entrepreneurship where we covered things like starting a business, marketing, promoting, starting a website, esport monetization, and live streaming. Then, the last two hours were basically gameplay. Gamers worked on communication, teamwork, strategy, and gaming skills development.”

There were 10 graduating students in the first class over the summer. Sye said it was a great proof of concept. The class’s final project was evidence of that. 

“Over the last two weeks, the campers were tasked with a hands-on collaborative project to produce and host their own online esports event,” he said. “They hosted a Brawlhalla  tournament and ended up having great participation, and the event was flawless – it was an awesome learning experience.” 

Futures First Gaming will be bringing the program back next summer and will shoot for an even larger class. But Sye hopes to push the program as a regular course in local high and middle schools to expose students to the available career paths. 

“We’ll really be able to educate students on the possibilities if we can meet them where they are,” he said. “We have commitment from two Delaware school districts pending funding and have had conversations about our program with Departments of Education in several states.” 

Equal Opportunity

Although not an exclusive organization, a fundamental goal of Futures First Gaming is to help expose minority students to the prospect of a career in the gaming industry, noted Sye.  

“Looking at the landscape, 83% of Black teens game, but only about 9% of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) professionals are Black,” said Sye. “We really want to change that. We feel that the discrepancy exists because of a lack of awareness and opportunity. Our program works to correct this by reaching out to students through their interest in gaming but teaching them about the business side in the process. That way, they can imagine a future where they make a living doing what they love. In our concept of STEM, ‘E’ stands for entrepreneurship.”     

To support this goal, Futures First Gaming has started to reach out to HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) to assist them in launching their own competitive esports teams. Sye is a strong believer that the opportunities in esports will continue to proliferate and offer opportunities to people of all kinds of backgrounds and interests. 

“There really is a spiderweb of careers cropping up to support gaming,” he said. “For example, last year’s Fortnite world cup winner, a 16-year-old named Kyle Giersdorf, won $3 million. He’s a millionaire now. He’s going to need an esports-specific attorney. There are gaming companies that want to create game characters with his likeness and image, so he needs to negotiate that. He’ll need an accountant. He’ll even need a personal trainer to work on stamina and hand-eye coordination. The web of opportunity keeps spreading.”

“That’s why when students come to us, we can work on where their interests lie and steer them toward a great career opportunity.” 

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