Pioneer: Kerry Gallivan
Bringing the national parks to the 21st century
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Founder, Chimani | 45, Portland, Maine
“The epiphany moment happened in Acadia National Park. I was standing on top of a mountain in the rain, wanting to know the best route back down, and I had no signal on my phone. Chimani is basically a guidebook—curated original content—in an app that’s designed for when there’s no connectivity. We take it a step further by including audio files and topo maps that are GPS enabled.
“Mobile devices are a tidal wave that’s about to hit the park experience. Chimani had more than 1.5 million user sessions last year, yet I would say we’ve tapped only about 5 percent of the market.
“To be blunt, if we don’t get this right, we’re talking about the death of the park system. If people don’t have a positive experience in the parks, they’re not invested in the concept. We want to make sure that when you go to a park, you walk away thinking it’s ten times better than Disneyland. That ultimately translates into legislation that will impact future generations.”
