Tech:NYC on the Road: 2025 SOMOS Recap

Last week, Team Tech:NYC joined elected officials, advocates, and partners in San Juan for the annual SOMOS conference. As always, SOMOS came right on the heels of election season, but this year’s trip followed a major mayoral race in New York, which meant there was no shortage of conversations about the future of the city, tech, and inclusive growth.

From AI in classrooms to cross-borough coalition building, SOMOS 2025 gave us another chance to deepen relationships, spotlight our members, and elevate equity-focused approaches to technology.

About SOMOS

SOMOS is a convening of New York’s civic, business, and government leaders, presented by the New York State Assembly and Senate Puerto Rican & Hispanic Task Force. It’s a working gathering where policymakers, advocates, and community leaders come together to tackle issues facing Latino and Puerto Rican communities in New York and on the island.

For Tech:NYC, SOMOS is a key moment to:

• Connect our member companies with decision-makers.

• Highlight the role of tech in advancing equity, opportunity, and mobility.

• Listen to community leaders and organizers driving change at the local level.

Connecting Ecosystems: Tech ’Tinis

No SOMOS trip is complete without Tech ’Tinis, our signature tech happy hour and one of our favorite gatherings of the year. 

Hosted at Miramar Food Park in Puerto Rico, the evening brought together more than 230 attendees, including elected officials, member companies, nonprofits, and partners from both New York and Puerto Rico. With food trucks, local vendors, and a setting that felt truly Puerto Rican, the atmosphere was as vibrant as the conversations.

👀 Spotted at Tech ’Tinis this year:

• NYC Comptroller Brad Lander

• State Senator Jeremy Cooney

• Assemblymember Edward Gibbs

• Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes

• Council Member Erik Bottcher

• Assemblymember John Zaccarro

We’re deeply grateful to our event sponsors, whose support made the gathering possible:

Spotify, Airbnb, Amazon, Citizens for Affordable Rates, CLEAR, DoorDash, Google, Lime, TikTok, and Waymo.

Tech ’Tinis once again served as the place at SOMOS where tech leaders, policymakers, and advocates could connect informally, compare priorities, and build relationships that will carry back to New York.

Photos credit: Vanessa Serra

Bringing “AI for Good” Training to SOMOS

This year, AI was impossible to ignore. The day after Tech ’Tinis, Tech:NYC’s Decoded Futures team partnered with Fordham University to host an “AI for Good” Training — a mini, on-the-ground version of our Decoded Futures programming tailored for SOMOS attendees.

The session introduced participants to:

• The basics of generative AI, with a focus on practical use cases in public service, education, and community-based organizations.

• Frameworks for evaluating bias, transparency, and safety in AI tools.

• Ways policymakers, educators, and advocates can use AI to advance equity and efficiency.

By bringing a bite-sized Decoded Futures experience to SOMOS, we were able to put tools directly into the hands of people shaping policy, classrooms, and community programs across New York State.

Photos credit: Ana María Abruña

Centering AI Equity in Education: “AI for All”

Also on the AI front, our Decoded Futures Program Director, Jenni Warren, joined a powerful panel on “AI for All” moderated by State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, focused on bringing an equity lens to AI in education.

In addition to Jenni, the panel featured:

• Margaret Kaufer, President, The STEM Alliance

• Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

• Melinda Person, President, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)

• Steve Choi, Organizational change and leadership consultant

Together, they dug into three core themes:

• Digital equity as a foundation for fair AI: Responsible AI development, adoption, and use must reflect the lived experiences of diverse communities — especially communities of color and non–primary English-speaking communities, including Latine communities.

• Workforce and education models that meet the moment: The conversation spotlighted programs equipping marginalized communities with the skills needed for emerging sectors like AI and data-driven industries (like Decoded Futures).

• Policy and philanthropy pulling in the same direction: Senator Gonzalez and other panelists highlighted how philanthropic initiatives and public–private partnerships can align with SOMOS network values to support schools, teachers, and community organizations on the front lines of this work.

The takeaway: AI in education is about power, access, and making sure communities who have historically been underrepresented in tech are meaningfully shaping what comes next.

Building Broader Coalitions: SOMOS AAPI Reception

Tech:NYC also had the opportunity to support the SOMOS AAPI Reception as a sponsor, recognizing the importance of coalition-building across communities that are too often siloed in policy conversations.

Supporting this reception was a reflection of our belief that New York’s diversity is a key strength of its tech economy.

Looking Ahead

Throughout the week, our team engaged in conversations that spanned AI and education, workforce development, startup ecosystems, and post-election priorities for New York’s next chapter.

With another SOMOS in the books, we’re energized by the momentum around AI equity, community-rooted programs, and cross-sector collaboration.

Until #SOMOS2026!