Last week, we brought together coworkers, friends, and allies to say goodbye to Deb Socia, our executive director. Deb has led Next Century Cities for the past five years with unrelenting passion and creativity, and helped us grow into the organization we are today. Among many other accomplishments, she received the Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion Award in 2018 in recognition of her efforts to support digital inclusion. While our goodbye party took place in Washington, DC, folks across the country have reached out to share their well wishes– which illustrates just how influential her work has been!   

Reflecting on her time with Next Century Cities, Deb said:
“It has been wonderful getting to know the brilliant, passionate, dedicated, and creative people who are working hard to make sure that everyone is connected. I want to thank all the folks who patiently shared their stories and their knowledge with me and who willingly helped their peers across the country. There is great power in the collective wisdom of the network!”

She begins her new role as CEO of Chattanooga, Tenn.’s Enterprise Center in July, and we are excited to see what she accomplishes there! For the next few weeks, Deb and the rest of the Next Century Cities team will be working to make the leadership transition as smooth as possible.