Nneka Sobers

Nneka Sobers is a civic technologist and urban designer who builds tools that transform community imagination into more human and responsive urban systems. Working at the intersection of systems design, product development, and participatory co-design, she turns community-centered research into digital tools and programs that help people more easily access and shape city services.

Nneka currently serves as the Deputy Director of New York City’s Innovation Team (i-Team), a creative lab in the Mayor’s Office that transforms lived experience into bold, cross-agency solutions—designing and testing programs, policies, and services that address the city’s most entrenched challenges. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Product Development at the Jacobs Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech, a Product Manager at NYC Planning. Nneka received a Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning from Virginia Tech.