BALTIMORE — They say you should never meet your heroes.
But when Rebecca Rosenberg was introduced to Pava LaPere, a fellow Johns Hopkins alum who she'd spent years admiring, the pair formed an instant connection.
"We talked a lot about what we were building, and where we saw our companies going. In a way, we had similar missions," Rosenberg recalled.
They both founded their own tech companies here in Baltimore. Rosenberg's company, Rebokeh, created an app for people with vision impairments, like herself. LaPere started EcoMap, which is all about increasing access to resources for entrepreneurs.
A couple of years older, LaPere earned a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022.
Less than a year later, her life was tragically cut short. She was killed in her Mount Vernon apartment building.
"I just continue to every day derive an inspiration from her that I don't think I'll get from anybody else," Rosenberg said today.
Inspiration to make the world more accessible - her app allows people to adjust the way they see, rather than simply replacing vision altogether with an audio or tactile alternative.
"85% + of people who have proper diagnosed vision impairments, actually have functional sight," Rosenberg told WMAR-2 News. "I know that there's a problem with assistive technology. It's kind of all of these enormous, really expensive things, or like, a tape recorder. There has to be something better, in between that we can do here."
As she continues growing her company, she often finds herself thinking: what would Pava do? Well, she's clearly doing something right. Rosenberg found out this week, with the rest of the world, she too made Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
"I just couldn’t believe it. It’s something I had thought about for a really long time. I remember hearing about it when I was in college, and being like, that’s so cool. I wonder what somebody must have to do to get to that point." She recalled thinking, "That would be so cool, but it’ll never be me."
As for what her friend Pava would think now, Rosenberg said: "I just think she would be, and is, so excited for me. This actually was something we talked about a number of times, as I was trying to figure out if it was something I should go after, something that I might have the opportunity to get to do, and she was just, from the very first day, so supportive and so willing to help me."
That's what makes this accomplishment a bittersweet one.
"Knowing that this is something that I very much wanted to celebrate with her, like she would've been one of the very first people who - honestly, Pava got up at like 4:30 in the morning. She would've known I was on the list before me," Rosenberg said, laughing.
Rosenberg and LaPere didn't grow up in Baltimore, but they both chose this as the home for their businesses. Rosenberg says it's the people and the support system that makes this city such a great place for innovators.
"I can’t imagine doing this anywhere else," she said.
As for what's next at Rebokeh, the company is beginning to partner with museums, libraries, even a zoo, who will sponsor the app for their patrons.
"With the idea being, people are bringing their own devices into that space, and automatically everything works for them on their own device through the Rebokeh app while they’re there," Rosenberg explained. "So they can use it to see the animals, so that they can use it to see the small, intricate details on the art that’s in the museum, so that they can read the cafe menu in the library, or find their kid from across the room."
