An award-winning teacher and community leader, Matt Ruben knows Philadelphia, how it works, and how to make it work better. As President of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association he made the community's voice heard in City Hall and as a City Council member he will do the same for the many communities in Philadelphia.

Over the years, Matt has worked for good development and better quality of life for long-term residents, new neighbors, seniors, working people, and small business. He's been a leading voice against putting casinos in neighborhoods, and a strong advocate for waterfront planning, collective bargaining, public health access, and a woman's right to choose.

Matt grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he attended Montgomery County public schools. He earned his college degree with honors at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1991 and moved to Philadelphia in 1992. He will receive his PhD in English and Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania this spring.

In the 1990s Matt supported pro-choice organizations, volunteering for Planned Parenthood and NARAL. In 1994 he co-founded the Youth Health Empowerment Project (Y-HEP), a teen peer outreach program promoting AIDS prevention and adolescent health. Matt helped secure city startup funds, and then raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to grow the program over the next five years. Currently in its 13th year, Y-HEP provides street outreach, a teen drop-in center, a medical clinic, skills-building discussion groups, and a trauma therapy program.

While a Penn graduate student and teacher in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Matt created alliances of Penn faculty, students, and staff to advocate for affordable, quality health benefits, and to prevent employee outsourcing. He lent his research and teaching skills to the Penn graduate student unionization movement, while earning the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching for his educational efforts inside the classroom.

From 2002 to 2006, Matt served as President of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA). During Matt’s presidency Northern Liberties experienced explosive growth, becoming the fastest-growing community in Philadelphia. Matt increased openness and transparency in the NLNA; led the fight against poor development like the Scores strip club chain; led negotiations for landmark agreements for positive development; helped save a neighborhood playground and secure land for a new neighborhood office and community center; and placed the NLNA at the forefront of the fight against slot machine casinos.

In 2006 Matt received the 181 Points of Light Award from State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas and was appointed to the Community Advisory Board of the Wireless Philadelphia initiative (www.wirelessphiladelphia.org).

Matt wants to bring honest, grassroots leadership to City Hall. He wants Philadelphia to grow in a way that improves life for everyone, together. Matt will work to reorient our policies towards reducing crime and poverty by improving education, creating jobs, and supporting programs that prepare and engage the city’s residents in meaningful employment. Matt pledges to reinvent the Council At-Large role by reaching out to all Philadelphians, building regional alliances, and helping Philadelphia get its fair share.