JB & Me | How JB strengthens the economy through tech

Neal Sales-Griffin: I’m from the Southside of Chicago; born and raised. Been here my whole life.

Neal Voiceover: I grew up on 49th and Drexel in this neighborhood called Kenwood. My dad lived there his whole life, my mom spent a lot of time there too.

Neal: I was lucky and privileged enough to get into Northwestern University, where my entrepreneurial interest was unlocked. I decided to learn computer programming right after college and that’s a little late, you know, in my life.

Neal Voiceover: Since I started to teach myself and struggle to learn programming

Neal: I realized how difficult it was to do this on my own and it got to this boiling point where I got so frustrated and there just had to be a better way.

N: So I decided to take matters into my own hands and

NVI co-founded one the very first software school or coding boot camp.

N: JB Pritzker is one of the first people I met who

NV: really truly represented the technology and entrepreneurship community. And when I met him and I shared my vision, he was all in;

N: I mean he was already thinking about it – he was ahead of me in some ways. And I think that 1871 was that tipping point for this community to take off.

NV: Since 1871 launched, the number of companies that have come out and shown that we are a state that knows how to grow entrepreneurs that can solve meaningful problems – its an incredible environment for that,

N: so when we launched our website, we had people fly in from all over the world for that first class. We’ve brought in and taught over 1600 people over the past six years had a code design and build web applications and make their ideas real and become entrepreneurs.

N: I’ve definitely seen firsthand how JB Pritzker’s had an impact on not only my company but hundreds if not thousands of other people and businesses.

NV: He sees a challenge or something that’s insurmountable or something other people perceive as either impossible or very difficult, and he’s ready to take it on and he’s ready to make it happen. I think we’re gonna need someone who’s such a forward thinker and who can see well beyond what’s in front of us in order to make not only effective policy changes but a cultural community evolution

NV: that’s gonna allow us to be together.

N:I mean it keeps me up at night in an exciting way to know that we have the opportunity to bring someone like JB into the fold to help lead this state. I think that that’s something that we desperately need and it’s something that I’d be willing to fight for tooth and nail.

[nealg]

JB's tech leadership in Illinois helped make my story possible. Proud to have the opportunity to support his campaign for governor. We need him!