Nneka Sobers is an urban designer and product strategist who strives to help citymakers leverage technology to increase public good. Working at the intersection of urban planning, design research, and civic technology, Nneka takes a systems-level and empathetic approach to developing accessible tools that help connect people to city systems.

Currently, Nneka is the Assistant Director of Product Development at Cornell Tech’s Urban Tech Hub. Prior to joining Cornell Tech, Nneka was a Product Manager at NYC Planning Labs, as well as a co-founder of a civic tech startup that helped low-income communities manage self-organized infrastructure systems (e.g. waste management) powered by a barter-based digital economy. Nneka received a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a concentration in City Design (‘18) and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning, with a minor in Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech (‘14).