Layla El Tannir

If you’re trying to make something happen in Philly – especially something involving immigrants, small businesses, or food – Phambassador Layla El-Tanir probably already has the spreadsheet, the contact, and maybe even a strategy to help get you started.

Basically, Layla’s Rolodex is like a who’s who of civic connection.

She has ties to Drexel University, Global Philadelphia, and Reading Market. She knows leaders at FDR Park, the Philly airport, and the Mexican Business Association. She’s on the Women’s Committee of Philadelphia 250 and enrolled in the latest cohort of Leadership Philadelphia. Oh, and she has presentation space ready for your use at the Welcoming Center, where she’s director of entrepreneurship.

“I can help however I’m needed,” she says matter-of-factly. “If I don’t know someone to connect you with, my colleagues probably do.”

All this, and she’s only 31.

Born and raised in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Layla moved to Philadelphia at 18 to study hospitality and business at Drexel. That kicked off a Philly love story powered by her own hustle and a gift for building bridges across communities.

She landed a co-op at Global Philadelphia, followed by an internship at Reading Terminal Market, where she was then hired (the merchants loved her so much they sponsored her work visa – three times!).

“I had 120 bosses,” she laughs of her time at Reading Terminal Market, where she worked for both the nonprofit that runs the place and the association that reps its many small businesses. “And it’s pretty accurate.”

Layla led the market’s e-commerce initiatives, built its ambassador and gift-card programs, secured leases, shaped policy around food access, and represented the market through a pandemic.

She also helped the operation maintain its status as the largest EBT redemption site in Pennsylvania. (The EBT, or Electronic Benefits Transfer, is the system that allows individuals to use government-issued benefits, typically for food assistance, to make purchases at participating stores.)

“When I say the market serves all Philadelphians, I really mean it,” says Layla.

After nine years at the historic emporium, Layla had her green card and was ready for a change. “My top three criteria for my next job were: money, corporate, and money,” she laughs. Instead, she joined The Welcoming Center, which, she says, “is exactly where my background makes sense.”

There, she helps immigrant entrepreneurs get the tools, training, and support they need to flourish in their new country. Today, she’s bringing that same connector energy to the Phambasador initiative.

“As a Phambassador, I don’t want us to just meet tourists,” she says. “I want us to meet each other.”

She’s full of ideas to bring Phams together: cross-neighborhood bus tours, immigrant business showcases, translated outreach materials, and events that reach every Philadelphian and reflect every voice.

By helping to connect residents across zip codes, backgrounds, and languages, the Pham program would do more than prep Philly for its 250th birthday, she says. “It would make Philadelphia feel more like a unified whole.”

That kind of connection strengthens the fabric of the city. And it shows the world that Philadelphia isn’t just rich in history — it’s rich in heart. If visitors arrive to find a city where locals know and celebrate one another, that story itself becomes part of what Philly exports. The city’s global reputation shifts from “tough and scrappy” to “proud and welcoming.”

“I still think at some point I’ll go corporate,” she says. “I’d like to get that perspective, especially around ESG” – the environmental, social, and governance factors that impact a company’s performance beyond just financial metrics. “And, yeah,” she laughs, “there’s still the money thing.”

But for now, she’s happy to be exactly where she’s supposed to be.