1. Brian Roberts

Action Figure

Comcast might not generate the most revenue of any company in the region (that would be Conshy-based Cencora). Nor is it the city’s largest employer (it’s actually 12th). But it remains Philly’s most important corporation, giving us a say in the all-powerful media/entertainment/tech universe. Which makes it fitting that Roberts — who has over his career transformed a regional cable operator into a behemoth that owns movie studios, TV networks, and theme parks — once again tops this list.

Roberts and co. have had a busy 12 months, including opening America’s first major theme park in 25 years (Universal Epic Universe in Orlando), pumping up Comcast’s fast-growing mobile phone service (Xfinity Mobile), and preparing to spin off several of its cable networks — including MSNBC — into a new stand-alone corporation. Meanwhile, Roberts has also weathered, at least for now, being in Donald Trump’s crosshairs. Irked by a question from NBC News, the Whiner-in-Chief called Roberts “a disgrace” and said he should be “investigated.” For, uh, something.

Of course, what truly propels Roberts to the top slot is his local impact. He and his wife, Aileen, gave CHOP its largest-ever donation — $125 million to create the Roberts Children’s Health building. Plus, using the clout Comcast gained from NBC’s new deal with the NBA, he guided the redirection of the 76ers’ planned Center City arena, forging a partnership with the Sixers on a (much more sensible) new arena at the Sports Complex and joining them in a different effort to revitalize Market East. David Adelman (#24), the Sixers partner crucial to those talks, calls Roberts “an incredible champion for the city.”

Roberts himself is optimistic about Philly’s future, especially in light of next year’s 250th birthday celebrations: “We understand our challenges, but I’m encouraged to see civic, business, and community leaders coming together more closely than ever.”

In September, Comcast announced that longtime exec Michael J. Cavanagh (#17) would become co-CEO with Roberts, a sign that a succession plan is underway. Here’s hoping Roberts’s exit won’t happen too fast — the city needs his ability to make an impact more than ever. — Tom McGrath

9. Tony Watlington

The Super

Perspective: When Watlington took the School District of Philadelphia superintendent job in April of 2022, he knew there would be challenges. It was a time of post-pandemic tumult, complete with restless students, aging buildings, and the general vibe that Abbott Elementary was setting unattainable standards for joy, positivity, and teacher adorableness. Since then, there has been some cause for optimism: Per the district’s 2024 assessments (new PSSA results aren’t expected until later this month), student performance has improved in nine of 13 categories over the past two years. There have also been setbacks. In September, the district released data on the health and usage of its facilities and confirmed what we already sorta knew: Our old buildings are problematic in many ways. Watlington just received a new contract (through 2030!), which means he’s got time to build on the wins—and chip away at the big, intractable issues.

17. It’s Comcast’s World

A constellation of Philly stars, all coming from Planet Comcast

One of the major reasons Comcast CEO Brian Roberts tops this list of Philly’s most influential people — and one of the reasons he’s able to maintain his influence — is thanks to the number of luminaries he’s managed to amass in the Comcast universe, all power players in their own right. Together, they affect innumerable aspects of Philly life. Take Dan Hilferty, for example, on the far edges of Comcast, really, as the Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO, and also Flyers governor. This is a man whose well-known people skills and rep for getting huge things done (for example, helping bring the DNC and the Pope to Philly) helped him lead the charge, with former Comcast exec David L. Cohen (#45), to bring Philly the FIFA World Cup for 2026. Now, Hilferty and Comcast senior VP of political engagement Michelle Singer — fundraising force, political player, and, per Visit Philly’s Angela Val, longtime competent wielder of “quiet power” in Philly — are co-chairs of Philadelphia Soccer 2026. (More on that: See #26!)

Hilferty and his soft power also smoothed the path for business brains Tom Reid, Comcast’s chief legal officer, and Michael J. Cavanagh, Comcast prez and head of NBCUniversal (and soon-to-be co-CEO of the whole shebang, along with Roberts), to hammer through the partnership deal with Sixers owners Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment that will put a new arena in South Philly and redevelop part of Market East — dual moves that are literally shaping large swaths of our city. (And hammer they did; multiple insiders credited all three for making the momentous deal happen.) Also, regarding Cavanagh: With ABC and CBS seemingly folding like lawn chairs in the face of political pressure this year, we’ve seen just how much influence the brass at major networks wield over our national conversation about government overreach and First Amendment rights. (Stay strong, NBC!)

Meanwhile, one political insider here in Philly recently offered that “I think this city would fall apart without Bret Perkins.” Perkins, Comcast’s senior VP of external and governmental affairs, has a big, jet-setting job that’s helped grow the company across the country, but he also manages to be a behind-the-scenes player on a crazy-high number of Philly boards, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Temple and Temple Health, the Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Coalition to Save Lives … and, somehow, more. “I’m someone to whom much has been given,” Perkins says, “and I believe it’s my job to find ways to give back.” Plus, he adds, in his experience, Philly is at its best when everyone — people from foundations, nonprofits, for-profits, government — work in cooperation on big things, “making stone soup, all using our individual ingredients.”

Speaking of working on big things, there’s also chief impact and inclusion officer and EVP Dalila Wilson-Scott, another prolific Philly board-sitter whose role includes running the Comcast NBC­Universal Foundation. Her perspective on convening people to solve problems is similar to Perkins’s — and she’s got some serious reach in that realm as the honcho of the company’s volunteerism and philanthropic activity. That includes the $1 billion Project UP commitment to growing internet access and digital skills around the country; it has also included work on economic mobility and gun violence in Philly. Looking forward, Wilson-Scott says she’s most excited about all 2026 holds — Comcast will be a key corporate sponsor in beaucoup events and series — and the opportunities the year presents “to bring people to and connect people in Philly around something that’s bigger than any of us.” That’s her favorite part of the job, she says. “And there are going to be so many moments in which we can unite and move forward together.” — Christine Speer Lejeune

20. Michael Forman and Jennifer Rice

The Giver-Backers

The powerhouse finance firm he co-founded, FS Investments, rebranded this summer (it’s now Future Standard), but Forman and his wife, Rice, have maintained their reputation for steady, strong commitment to Philly’s civic life.

For starters, there’s the Philadelphia Equity Alliance, which Forman and labor leader Ryan Boyer (#4) launched in 2021 as a way of bringing more diverse voices to the power table. “I’m proud of what we’ve done thus far,” Forman says, “but there’s still work to be done.” These days, he says, they’re focusing on education, supplier diversity, and jobs.

The couple’s Forman Family Foundation, meanwhile, has boosted more than a dozen initiatives over the past couple of years (including the campaign to restore Cobbs Creek golf course and make it more community-focused), while the Forman Arts Initiative — which supports and connects local artists — is getting closer to completing a new arts and community center built on an entire block in West Kensington. “We really wanted to be in a neighborhood,” Rice says of the decision not to locate in an already art-rich area. “We’re not setting out to solve all the issues that Kensington faces, but I think we can be helpful.”

As for Future Standard, the alternative asset firm has grown to $86 billion under management and nearly 600 employees, and will move into a new space in Schuylkill Yards early next year.

That’s a lot of activity in a lot of different spaces for one couple, but they say it’s all of a piece. “Michael and I love our city so much,” Rice says. “One of my biggest frustrations is that we continue to fail to live up to our potential. But I’m really optimistic that we will find a way to align all the special things about our city, and we’ll get that momentum.” — T.M.

26. The 2026ers

The People Prepping Philly for Our Biggest. Year. Ever.

When Philly celebrated the country’s bicentennial nearly 50 years ago, it was, infamously, a dud. Millions of dollars and years of planning, all for naught — nobody came to party with us. But rest assured, Philadelphia: That is not going to happen in 2026, aka America’s semiquincentennial, aka what’s shaping up to be the biggest year Philly has seen since, well … the beginning.

That’s thanks in large part to the vision and force of will of a raft of people in this town, including Dan Hilferty and Michelle Singer (see #17), who delivered the FIFA World Cup to our city — an occasion that’s going to bring the entire world here and create some three-quarters of a billion dollars for the region. Picture it, as Hilferty once said, like “the Super Bowl over and over and over again, for a month-plus.” Or, as Singer says now: “It’s going to be next-level.” The pair, who now co-chair the nonprofit Philadelphia Soccer 2026, are working alongside FIFA host city executive and CEO Meg Kane — a Philly World Cup supporter from day one and a gifted storyteller, says Singer, who’s helping tell the story of Philly as a “place where fandom and history all come together” — and COO Lauren Lambrugo, whose massive job includes everything from managing contracts to keeping up with government regulations to determining what trees might be in the sight lines for various watch parties.

And that’s just the soccer. Philly’s 2026 lineup also includes the MLB All-Star Game; a new art festival called ArtPhilly; a PGA Championship at Aronimink; NCAA March Madness; and an innumerable host of speaker series, spectacles, parties, events … you get the idea. Michael Newmuis, the mayoral appointee whose title is 2026 director, isn’t literally directing all of this, but he is the guy helping ready the city for its logistical and financial needs (like doling out $30 million in grants to community partners across the city to get our neighborhoods ready) and its aesthetic ones (securing some $4.5 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior for Independence Hall’s restoration), and coordinating programming (working with the school district on youth events for 2026, including a singing competition with an assist from Philly native and Columbia Records exec Mont Brown … who’s also helping launch a flag football initiative).

“What’s been most exciting,” Newmuis says, “is to see how everyone wants to roll up their sleeves and deliver on this historic opportunity. We’ve all recognized that if we don’t work together, we can’t get it done. I entered this game in the fourth quarter, and now we’re racing toward making the biggest score in history.”

Here’s who else is on the team: Kathryn Ott Lovell, whip-smart CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation and head of Philadelphia250, is in charge of bringing 2026 events and engagement to Philly neighborhoods. As she told Philly Mag back in July, for her, the mission is about remembering what next year is really about: what happened here in 1776. “We need to talk about this new and incredible thing we created here, and we need to talk about preserving it.”

And then there’s Tim Durkin and Chris Levenick of the Connelly Foundation, who managed to do what has heretofore been almost impossible: bring together the big-time foundations (beginning with William Penn [#37] and expanding to Comcast, Pew, Neubauer, Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, and Knight) to create the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, which has raised some $15 million for the festivities. “They’ve set aside their own agendas and focused on 2026 to get grants and leverage more money,” says Angela Val, Visit Philly CEO, tourism marketing whiz, and another force in the 2026 game. Though to be honest, she says, she’s already thinking beyond next year, working on building on 2026’s momentum to position Philly — and the whole region — as a strong, competitive draw in the years to come.

In the meantime, though, Val also offers some excellent perspective on bringing people to our city at a time when much of American life is, er, fraught. “This is Philly,” she says. “In this place, you’re welcome. We let you be you. We don’t agree on everything — but that’s a core value of the city. That’s the City of Brotherly Love. I don’t gotta do what you do, but you can still do it here.” — C.S.L.

29. Kenyatta Johnson

Mr. (Co?) President

Since becoming City Council president in January 2024, Johnson hasn’t had a slow news day yet. This was particularly true as he navigated the chaotic saga of the failed Sixers arena deal for Center City (he voted yes, in unison with Mayor Parker’s view) and then passed a city budget that includes a controversial $800 million affordable housing policy — another initiative championed by the mayor.

The latter move required some heavy lobbying of his colleagues on Council, which has led some in the press — and also Johnson himself — to compare the Johnson–Parker relationship to that between former Mayor Ed Rendell and then–Council President John F. Street, who famously worked together in the 1990s to stabilize the city’s finances. (Of course, there was also head-scratching in some quarters when the recommendations of the Tax Reform Commission Johnson worked diligently to convene were, shall we say, lightly regarded in the latest city budget.)

Not all of Johnson’s Council colleagues have been thrilled with the generally chummy setup and what it means for debate and negotiation. In June, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas (#91) told the Inky: “As a member of the leadership team on City Council, we’re always looking to make sure that there’s a fine balance between having a working relationship with the mayor and representing members.”

Mayoral bonding aside, Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson (#66) says that Johnson’s influence “stems from his genuine care for the issues that matter most to Philadelphians — public safety, education, and leaving a stronger, more vibrant city for future generations.” Johnson, she says, has a “long-standing commitment to the communities he represents.”

That commitment and his considerable political skills catapulted him from a scrappy state representative to the prominent face of City Council. Johnson’s next test just might be showing his Council — and his city — that he can cooperate with the mayor without being her co-pilot. — Ernest Owens

32. Lindsey Scannapieco

Creative Catalyst

The untimely demise of the University of the Arts dealt a blow not just to its students and staff, but to all who were impacted by the institution, or who just loved walking past those historic South Broad facades. When those nine grand buildings went up for sale, it felt hard to envision a fate for them that was befitting of both the history and the address on the Avenue of the Arts. But while we mourned, Scannapieco, head of urban design firm Scout, was hard at work. Originally she’d set her sights on a smaller, “runt of the litter” building, but then an opportunity emerged to pursue the big-ticket item — Hamilton and Furness Halls — and, backed by a slew of city officials and industry connections, Scout acquired the buildings just weeks after auctioning began. “It took a miracle,” she says.

Scannapieco’s previous triumph, the adaptive-reuse Bok Building (a shuttered high school), has undeniably made its mark on South Philly and on development in the city at large by offering a vision of an affordable, inventive hub of activity (and food and entrepreneurship and art) in a previously forlorn space. Similar projects have since popped up in North Philly and at the Navy Yard.

Scannapieco doesn’t see this as an opportunity to copy and paste Bok’s wild success onto the Avenue of the Arts, but as a chance to continue its mission. Tenants will naturally include artists, nonprofits, businesses, and entrepreneurs, some already preparing to move in as a refashioning of the interior proceeds over the next dozen or so months. This project, though, will also see an affordable housing component geared at local creatives and cultural producers. “There’s an opportunity for Philadelphia to acknowledge the strength of supporting these types of spaces, and that they are very fragile, and that they have to be preserved,” she says. — Shaunice Ajiwe

33. Atif Saeed

Air Bud

Consider Saeed, the CEO of the city’s Department of Aviation, our official welcome wagon — the man leading the charge to ready both PHL and Northeast Philadelphia Airport for the waves of travelers arriving next year for the FIFA World Cup, the MLB All-Star Game, the PGA Championship, and America’s 250th birthday.

What has this work entailed? Well, first, as Visit Philly’s Angela Val (#26) points out, Saeed has been working “diligently” post-pandemic to bring back the international flights we lost, as well as adding new direct routes to more countries. (Since 2024, PHL has, via American Airlines, added direct flights to Edinburgh, Mexico City, Copenhagen, Nice, Costa Rica, and more.) “Atif’s all about making our airport feel like a true, welcoming gateway to the world,” Val says.

To wit: Saeed is overseeing the $500 million effort to improve PHL’s infrastructure — an effort that ranges from modernizing terminals and airfields to sprucing up gates, signage, and restrooms. (This year, yet again, our airport ranked last of all large-size airports in J.D. Power’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study.) Meanwhile, PHL’s “Founded in Philly” concessions program has brought a steady stream of Philly-based restaurants — including Yards, Middle Child, Oyster House, and Federal Donuts & Chicken — into the terminals, upping the food game.

They’ve also been taking measures to warm up the human factor, Saeed says, launching programs to help tone down some of Philly’s signature ’tude and “cultivate a welcoming culture” among PHL’s 18,400 badged employees. (Every one of them, he says, “is an ambassador of the airport.”)

For Saeed, this isn’t just about a big travel year. “We want success in 2026 not just for its sake,” he says, “but as a launchpad for more tourism, jobs, and flights.” The airports are an “economic engine” — with $18.7 billion in annual impact, supporting 102,600 jobs — and Saeed is playing the long game to “ensure it keeps growing in an equitable and sustainable way,” he says. “That’s my true north. That’s why we exist.” — Sarah Jordan

36. Howie Roseman

Salary Cap Savant

MOOD RING: When the Eagles play well — and they’ve played very, very well since executive vice president and general manager Roseman began making the roster decisions — Philly is a better place. CHA-CHING: It’s not just good vibes: Academic studies suggest that February’s Super Bowl, through increased spending and happiness-fueled worker productivity, may have had a 10-figure economic impact. We’re running out of words for the team’s roster architect, who keeps finding ways to outdo not only the competition but himself. Here are some numbers instead. — Brian Howard

46. Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon

The Shapeshifter

There are chefs who live for the kitchen and chefs who live for the dining room. Nok is one of the very rare ones who are equally comfortable with both, moving effortlessly between the heat of the line at her packed Fishtown restaurant, Kalaya, and the dining room, where it can seem as though she’s best friends with every person at every table.

Spend five minutes talking to her, though, and you’ll understand where this chameleonic versatility comes from. First, she exudes warmth and connection — a loud, joyful bundle of sunshine and spice in a couture dress who knows exactly how to work a crowd, whether she’s carrying drinks or bouncing a crying baby on her shoulder to give some harried parents a break to eat. Second, she is a person who has lived many lives already (telephone operator, airline hostess, part-time handbag smuggler, lady of leisure), and these days just happens to be focused on her latest role as James Beard Award–winning restaurateur and translator of Thai culinary culture for a global audience. In the past year, she has published her first cookbook (Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen), been on TV (Netflix’s Chef’s Table), and been named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2025 and best female chef in North America by the website 50 Best.

When I reached out to her PR to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, the first thing I heard back was “Yeah, you and me both!” Nok was in Los Angeles when I called, ahead of a one-night-only pop-up with chef Evan Funke at his Felix Trattoria. After that, a charity dinner back in Philly, then she was headed back to Thailand as a culinary guide for a travel adventure in partnership with Bon Appétit magazine. “She doesn’t ever slow down,” offered her weary publicist.

Here’s hoping she never does. Because without her energy and adaptability, who else would we have to spread the gospel of Thai cuisine, an adventurous life, and Philly pride so far and wide? — Jason Sheehan

47. Adam Geer

Philly’s Safekeeper

For the longest time, Philadelphians were left to clean up crime scenes themselves. After a shooting, community members would bring out buckets of water and bleach to scrub away the blood of their neighbors and relatives. “It wasn’t professional and it wasn’t sanitary,” says Geer, the city’s first chief public safety director. “It was horrible and retraumatizing.”

Today, that tragic work is done by the Office of Public Safety, which Geer oversees in a role created by Mayor Parker to coordinate the city’s response to crime. For the former line prosecutor and deputy inspector general, it’s an example of what it means to address violence holistically. Safety is as much about feelings and emotions as it is about statistics, he says, so although homicides through July dropped 58 percent from the same period in 2021, Geer is intent on taking steps to ensure that people actually feel safer, too. Crime scene cleanup helps. So does $24 million in grants for community groups working on violence prevention, as well as an intervention program that identifies and supports teens likely to shoot or be shot.

Since Geer’s appointment, OPS has cemented its role as “the driving force behind Philadelphia’s continuum of prevention,” says George Mosee, executive director of the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network and a former colleague in the district attorney’s office. That’s due, in part, to Geer’s “genuine desire for all Philadelphians to enjoy not just safety, but the highest quality of life.”

So when Geer sees children playing in McPherson Square and riding their bikes in Kensington, where homicides dropped 45 percent last year, “that, to me, is a measure of success.” Keeping the momentum going is his next task. “It’s a lot of work,” he says. “It makes me scratch my head to think there wasn’t an Office of Public Safety before this.” — Ben Seal

50. Christy Brady

Auditor in Chief

After nearly 30 years working for the City Controller, the Olney native quit her job in 2023 so she could run in the special election to fill the top post after Rebecca Rhynhart left it to run for mayor. She’s been keeping busy ever since winning that race. Now Brady’s expected to be elected to her first full term this month against virtually unknown Republican Ari Patrinos.

By the Numbers:

$57 Million: Amount the city and School District of Philadelphia could be cheated out of over the next five years if the real estate tax fraud that Brady uncovered (residents illegally claiming the Homestead Exemption) isn’t addressed by the city.

8: Years, by Brady’s analysis, before the city’s notoriously underfunded pension fund will be fully funded since the city began making progress on the matter in 2018. She expects it to be at 80 percent in 2028 and fully funded in 2033.

0: Number of times that Licenses and Inspections officials asked to review contractor licenses during eight construction inspections Brady’s office observed as part of an investigation. This led her to issue a report stating that this lack of oversight could be dangerous for local residents.

$700,000: Amount hackers stole from the School District of Philadelphia, according to findings Brady turned over to the state attorney general in May.

120: “Imminently dangerous” properties that Brady found in the city during an investigation just six months into her first term. She deemed a total of 4,000 properties unsafe and declared that L&I simply didn’t have enough inspectors to keep up with all the unsafe buildings. — Victor Fiorillo

59. Paul A. Offit

Some Heroes Wear Lab Coats

“I’ve never been busier in my professional life than since RFK became secretary of Health and Human Services,” says Offit. The director of the Vaccine Education Center and infectious disease physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has become the foil to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine denier who now somehow sets the nation’s health agenda.

Offit has spent his career working on lifesaving vaccines: He co-invented one of the rotavirus vaccines that have saved tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of children worldwide. So Offit takes RFK Jr.’s ascension as a personal affront.

I’m constantly asked to comment to the media,” he tells us. So he does. “The print media, radio, five to 10 times a day. And I’ve been on MSNBC and CNN a lot lately.”

His outspokenness has its costs. “I get a lot of hate mail,” he shrugs. He also found himself mysteriously disinvited from the FDA vaccine advisory committee he’d long served on.

Despite all that, Offit agrees with RFK Jr. on at least one point: “He says we wouldn’t be here if it were not for COVID.” Offit concedes that the response to the novel coronavirus was in some ways problematic, specifically as it related to long school and business closures. “It was seen as dictatorial. … We leaned into this libertarian left hook, and this is the backlash.” The scientific community needs to work on humility, he thinks, to start clawing back some of the lost trust.

Then again, he’s heartened, he says, that RFK Jr. “doesn’t represent most Republican parents,” citing both emails he gets and recent polls that show that 80 percent of parents support long-standing childhood vaccines. And he’s hoping that Trump, a man who remembers polio, may tire of Kennedy’s vaccine shtick.

Ultimately, says Offit, the science will prevail. “I’m glad I’m getting on his nerves,” he says of Kennedy. “At some point he’ll realize I’m not his problem; it’s the science that shows he’s wrong that’s his enemy.”

From your lips, Paul. — B.H.

63. Kelvin A. Jeremiah

The Housing Authority

Jeremiah knows what it means to never have enough. He’s decades removed from his childhood in Grenada, where he says he grew up in “squalor,” but memories of that time still drive him to give his all to the residents who rely on the Philadelphia Housing Authority, where he’s CEO and president. “All that ails us begins with housing,” he says. He wants to help people rewrite their stories.

With more than 100,000 people on the PHA’s waiting list, there’s no shortage of need. So Jeremiah is embarking on a $6.3 billion plan to preserve and modernize the city’s public housing portfolio — just 13,000 units, well shy of its 21,000-unit potential capacity — while building and acquiring thousands more. “Our initiative is ambitious,” he says. “It is big, it is bold, but it is doable.”

In a housing market full of headwinds, it’s easier to buy than build, so PHA is acquiring hundreds of units from private developers like the Riverwards Group, whose managing partner, Mo Rushdy (#85), calls Jeremiah an aggressive, out-of-the-box, and unafraid leader. “He is one of, if not the, most important parts of solving the housing problem,” Rushdy says.

For Jeremiah, housing is the foundation for a life well lived — and an opportunity to address “myriad social and economic issues.” He’s developed job training and adult education programs for PHA residents, and Philly­SEEDS, a subsidiary founded in 2013 that’s given out more than $4 million in scholarships to students Jeremiah is proud to see graduating from college. For Philly and the PHA, he says, change can happen if we take the bull by the horns.

“We have to save ourselves,” Jeremiah says. “Nobody is coming to save us.” — B.S.

78. Jasmine Rivera and Erika Guadalupe Núñez

The Defenders

For Rivera and Núñez, executive directors of immigrant rights advocacy groups, there is no day-to-day. How the hours play out from the moment they wake up is anyone’s guess. For Rivera and the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, they might be spent providing educators with training for ICE run-ins at schools, or meeting with any of 60-some member organizations and countless individual supporters to strategize on campaigns and lawsuits, or spread out at events across the broader region as part of a day of action calling on Governor Shapiro to protect immigrant rights. For Núñez at Juntos, the day may see her focused more on rapid response: accompanying folks to court, reporting on ICE sightings and arrests, and visiting Moshannon Valley Processing Center — the largest detention center in the Northeast — to support those being held and advocate for the center’s shutdown.

Each has been at this work for over a decade. Anti-immigration policy and enforcement at the federal level has escalated more drastically than many have ever experienced, and with the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill, Núñez expects it to get worse. But as Rivera puts it: “So much of what we’ve been seeing … is pulled from a playbook that’s been utilized for generations.” Still, the significant increase in members, volunteers, and interest they’ve seen has been encouraging — and productive. At Juntos, their youth and court accompaniment programs are thriving. And this year, PIC continues to lead successful efforts to open new health centers in immigrant communities, end ICE collaboration in Allentown, and launch the Pennsylvania Fund for Immigrant Rights and Equity.

Even as faith in politicians wanes, Rivera feels that now is the time for people in power to be bold, and to feel pressured to do so. “We are putting into practice what democracy was intended to be. We are making our needs loud and clear,” she says. “We’re going to have to do this at every level, but I know in my heart of hearts, we will win.” — S.A.