Marc Coleman
Founding President / Chief Executive Officer
Marc is an innovative leader who knows the power of teamwork. He inspires collaboration by building intentionally diverse and effective teams of designers, programmers, and other IT-professionals to meet the specific needs of clients.
A highly motivated serial entrepreneur, Marc has more than two decades of experience in creative direction, design, strategy, business development, management, and client relations.
With a diverse staff of 34 in 2023, the firm’s mission states “Designed to give a damn, we actively seek work whose goal is to improve the quality of life for all people.” The company’s clients include the U.S. Department of Education, the City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia International Airport, PGW, the City of Boston, NASA, and small and medium size not-for-profits.
Marc serves on the Boards of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia where he works on both the Executive committee and serves as the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion committee. Marc has also served on the board of the Independence Business Alliance where he served on both the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the Executive Committee. He is a longtime member of the Philadelphia African-American Chamber of Commerce and has worked with the marketing committee of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. His agency, The Tactile Group, is a certified Minority Business Enterprise via NMSDC, and an LGBT Business Enterprise as certified by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).
Marc was trained in electrical engineering at Princeton University and architecture at Temple University. He also was a leading member of Cohort 2 in 2013 of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Starting his own business as a DJ in live music venues and on the radio while a university student, he handled promotions and advertising, developing graphic design-based guerrilla marketing solutions in an age before the internet. Transitioning to a second business, owning and managing a Center City Philadelphia bed and breakfast, Marc was responsible for all promotions and marketing and business management, as well as property management and maintenance. The business was transformed into a home-based graphic design and photography studio, Tactile Design Group, in 2004, developing products for print for a variety of clients, including retail establishments, not-for-profits, and small business organizations. Web design and development became the predominant product as Marc hired his first staff and moved to a small office in Philadelphia’s Midtown Village in 2007. Reflecting its growth into a broad-based digital design and application development agency, the company began doing business as The Tactile Group in 2012.
Marc relaxes with the occasional video game, and he and his husband enjoy travel, fine food and wine, camping in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains, and spending time with family and good friends. His snark factor can go from 0 to 11 in 3.7 seconds.
