Page 36 - Delaware 222 - 2025

Stephanie Johnnie
Pete du Pont Freedom
Foundation
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Founded in 2003, the Pete du Pont
Freedom Foundation is a nonprofi t
that promotes America’s spirit of
private enterprise by collaborating
with business leaders, community
partners and service providers to
invest in business development.
Stephanie Johnnie fi rst joined the
foundation in early 2021 as a program
manager before quickly stepping
into a leadership role. As executive
director, Johnnie oversees events
and sponsorship programs like the
Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
(E3) that have elevated business ideas
across the state. Th e foundation’s
annual Reinventing Delaware program
also helps advance transformative
ideas in the state.
Elizabeth Keller
The Committee of 100
ALMA MATERS:
Q&A:
Renata Kowalczyk
Wilmington Alliance
Th e Wilmington Alliance focuses
on creating a more inclusive and
prosperous Wilmington for all
residents and businesses. In 2019,
the organization combined with the
Wilmington Renaissance Corp. to
form an allyship to support the city
in ways unseen or before to support
economic development eff orts. As CEO
of the Wilmington Alliance, Kowalczyk
partners with various stakeholders
to create programs and initiatives
to address workforce development,
entrepreneurship, placemaking and
civic engagement in the city. Most
recently, she and the Wilmington
Alliance have partnered with the
Delaware Contemporary Arts Museum
to off er studio space and exhibits for
rising artists.
ALMA MATERS:
BOARDS:
Q&A:
34 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
34 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
34 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
Th e Committee of 100 is a non-
partisan, nonprofi t association of
Delaware business leaders that works
to promote responsible economic
development and address issues
that aff ect the state’s economic
health. Elizabeth Keller serves as
its top liaison between the business
community and government offi cials
on issues like transportation, land
use, education policy and more. Since
she has been named to the top post
in 2022, she worked on “Ready in
6” initiative aimed at reducing the
time it takes for businesses to get
the permitting needed to operate
in Delaware as well as county-level
ordinances and state-level policies
impacting the state’s economy.
ALMA MATER:
BOARDS:
Q&A:
Scott Malfitano
CSC / Delaware Workforce
Development Board
In his 28 years at CSC, Scott Malfi tano
has answered customer service calls,
launched incorporate.com, aided
with the company’s business license
service and overseen building its
global headquarters in Wilmington.
In his top position he worked to
establish the CSC Station, a co-
working and innovation space on
the Wilmington Riverfront. Today,
Malfi tano is also leading eff orts to
reinvigorate the state’s Workforce
Development Board by bringing
together industry, educators and public
offi cials to prepare workers for future
opportunities. With the assistance of
Tech Impact, the Delaware Workforce
Development Board has launched
a new app to help connect people
looking with training programs
throughout the state.
ALMA MATER:
BOARDS:
Q&A: