Shannon Morales, the founder of Tribaja, is a visionary who has used her personal and professional experiences to help others find their paths. 

The desire to help others led her to create Diversitech Fest, a three-day event for tech enthusiasts, creatives, entrepreneurs, and professionals looking to enhance their skills, connect with peers, discover innovations, and many other things. 

“I always say, ‘you may want to start in tech, but ultimately you can transition those transferable skills into entrepreneurship and be a founder like myself,’” said Morales during her opening remarks at the 2023 Diversitech Fest.

She often tells others that the sky is the limit for skilled professionals. 

The Diversitech Fest is in partnership with Philly Startup Leaders, the largest and most active community of startup entrepreneurs in Philadelphia dedicated to helping increase the number of entrepreneurs and startups in the region. 

The connection between Morales, Philly Startup Leaders, and its CEO Isabelle Kent has existed for years, even before Kent took over the helm. 

Morales earned her start as a founder through one of Philly Startup Leaders’ accelerator programs. 

“Once I met Shannon, I actually wasn’t working for PSL yet and I was in the Tribaja Slack channels, she just had such a strong community of people not only in Philadelphia, but well beyond,” said Kent.

Her energy and willingness to share important information to help build careers really caught Kent’s attention. 

“Especially coming out of the pandemic, it was more important then than ever that we all lean on each other and share that knowledge and share that access,” she added. 

Fast forward to when Philly Startup Leaders had an opening for the executive role position; it was Morales who recruited and placed Kent into the role.

“Even though I had been a member for 10 years, if it wasn’t for Shannon, I wouldn’t be in the role that I’m in today,” Kent highlighted. 

That is just one example of the power of networking and building a community within tech, and other industries.

The origin stories of both Morales and Kent are ones that the two of them hope to see duplicated through events like Diversitech Fest, where numerous professionals can meet face-to-face and share their journeys. 

Over the past couple of years, Diversitech Fest has grown from a virtual to hybrid to now an in-person event with hundreds of professionals from all areas of the nation traveling to take part. 

“We don’t think of Philly as a tech hub, but it most certainly is and through the work that Shannon does, we’re able to invite folks from all over the country to share information on what’s working, what’s not, how they can build careers and successes for themselves, start building generational wealth, and hopefully do so by becoming founders and entrepreneurs themselves,” said Kent. 

The 2023 Diversitech Fest features more than two dozen panels and discussions from people across various industries and backgrounds. 

Stay tuned for more AL DÍA coverage of the 2023 Diversitech Fest.