Meet the Fitler Square CEO Behind Philly’s Street-Cleaning Startup
What started as one neighbor's frustration with city litter has become one of Philadelphia's fastest-growing street-cleaning services, and its CEO Brandon Pousley calls Fitler Square home.
Glitter, a pay-what-you-can, community-funded cleaning startup, has already expanded to nearly 350 blocks citywide. The service began in 2021 on the 1600 block of Bainbridge Street and has since gained traction largely by word of mouth.
How Glitter Works: From Signup to Sweep
Glitter runs on a straightforward but scalable model: neighbors on a block collectively fund routine cleanups. A block—defined as the stretch of street between two intersections—needs at least $50 in pledges to start monthly service. If contributions reach $200, the cleanings become weekly. Pledges are flexible and shared among residents, with no minimum commitment per household.
Once a block is funded, a Glitter cleaner is assigned to bag litter from sidewalks, streets, and storm drains. Cleanings are typically scheduled just before or after trash day, and in cases where pickup falls after trash day, neighbors volunteer to store collected bags until city collection.
Each block has its own digital dashboard showing pledge totals, cleaning frequency, and photos from past cleanups. Cleaners are usually assigned consistent routes to build trust and accountability with residents.
Born from Frustration, Grown by Neighbors
Glitter's origin traces back to co-founder Morgan Berman's fateful New Year's Day walk several years ago, where she found herself repeatedly tripping over litter. Her early efforts to partner with city officials eventually gave way to a grassroots alternative: neighbors paying for cleaner streets.
Pousley joined the effort after meeting Berman at a protest where demonstrators dumped neighborhood-collected trash in front of the Municipal Services Building.
Unlike traditional services, Glitter offers a hybrid model that pays workers—many of whom face barriers to employment—a living wage while letting residents pledge what they can toward the $200 monthly cost of weekly cleanings. The more pledges a block gets, the more often it's cleaned. Some blocks are cleaned every single week.
From Single Block to 350 and Counting
Glitter's early operations were scrappy: the first block was funded via PayPal, and cleanings started without any tech infrastructure. Pousley and Berman deliberately bootstrapped the company, eschewing outside investment to retain control.
Today, the company employs five full-time staff and around 20 full-time cleaners, with capacity to scale up to 50. Most cleaners cover multiple blocks and are hired through a combination of open applications and local partnerships. Some even work within walking distance of their own homes.
A Model With Critics, But Growing Support
While the concept of privately funded street cleaning has raised eyebrows, Pousley says criticism has been minimal. "Honestly, a lot less than I thought," he noted. Some skeptics argue that litter removal should be a public service, not a private one. But Pousley counters that Glitter doesn't replace city services; it supplements them, especially in areas where regular cleaning is inconsistent or absent. "We're finding a flexible, market-driven solution that fills in the gaps," he said.
Legally, homeowners are responsible for their sidewalks, a fact many residents don't realize. Glitter, Pousley argues, simply provides a mechanism to make collective maintenance feasible—and dignified work for those doing it.
Fitler Square as Microcosm and Model
Pousley's presence in Center City is more than coincidental. The region has one of the highest densities of Glitter-covered blocks in the city. For Pousley, it's a test case for how well the model can work when community buy-in meets visible results. "People here see the value and show up," he said. "We're not replacing the city. We're filling a gap."
Glitter has yet to accept outside investment, but Pousley hints that geographic expansion could change that. Until then, he's focused on refining the model and growing Glitter block by block—including his own.