We're guided by some of the world's top tech policy leaders.  

Team

Founder and executive director

Travis Moore is the founder of TechCongress, and was the Legislative Director for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the former Chairman and Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who had jurisdiction over wide-ranging matters of technology policymaking. He founded Congress’ first digital communications training program, the institutions’ first Congressional staff conference, and the Congressional Digital Service Fellowship. 

Travis is the Co-Founder of #CongressToo, a group of 1500 former Congressional staffers that brought the #MeToo movement to Capitol Hill and spearheaded a reform overhaul signed into law in late 2018.

Travis' work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Re/code, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call and other outlets.  He can be reached at Travis [at] TechCongress.io or @travismoore. 

Congressional Digital Service Fellowship Director

Leisel Bogan is the Director of the Congressional Digital Service Fellowship for TechCongress. Prior to her current role she served as a Senior Fellow for Cybersecurity, Technology and National Security in the office of Senator Mark Warner. She has also served as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Chief of Staff and Director of Research at Stanford University, and advised private sector clients on technology, strategy and emerging markets with a focus on China at the geopolitical strategic consulting firm, RiceHadleyGates, LLC. Leisel also worked on big data analytics and emerging technologies on a special projects team at Palantir Technologies, and a new media technology team at Warner Bros. Entertainment. Before working in Congress she managed strategy for a global cybersecurity and technology transformation program and worked with member firms at the professional services firm, PwC. Earlier, she was a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution where she conducted research on cybersecurity, national security, and international institutions, and exhibited work at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. During her second appointment at the Hoover Institution, in addition to her research she helped stand up the Washington D.C. office and spearheaded strategic policymaking partnerships and coalitions. 

Bogan has led several volunteer and non-profit education programs for vulnerable children and youth. Her work has taken her throughout the EU, the Southern Caucasus, Asia, and MENA. She has written for various publications and organizations, and collaborated on both of Secretary Rice’s two bestsellers. She studied at the University of San Francisco’s School of Law, holds a graduate degree from Pepperdine University, guest lectured at the school’s study abroad program, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from California State University. She was a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations and a 2016 Gabr Foundation Fellow.

Chief operating officer

Senior Outreach & program manager

Operations Associate

Mary Overton is an Operations Associate at TechCongress, where she assists with day-to-day operations of the organization. She started at TechCongress as a Research & Policy Intern, assisting with all aspects of TechCongress’ work, such as diving in to help run orientation, manage recruitment outreach, process reimbursements, and conduct research into fellowship expansion.

Mary holds a B.A. in Political Science from The George Washington University and a M.P.S. in Legislative Affairs from the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. She focuses on federal politics and the structure and function of Congress.

communications INTERN

Mercedes Moore is the communications intern at TechCongress. Mercedes is currently studying Computer Science and Sociology at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Mercedes has interest in the intersection between civic innovation and technology. Prior to joining TechCongress, Mercedes completed a PIT fellowship with the New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer providing technological solutions for the city’s participatory budgeting campaign, the People’s Money (PBNYC). On-campus, she serves as a managing editor for Columbia’s Journal of Science Technology Ethics & Policy (JSTEP) and manages the student ambassador program for Columbia SEAS’s social media.

programs INTERN

Board of Directors

Laura MOY

Professor Laura Moy is an Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown. She is the Director of Georgetown Law’s Communications & Technology Law Clinic, where she leads a team of staff attorneys and law students representing nonprofit organizations in a range of technology policy before federal agencies.
Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Professor Moy worked on technology policy issues at New America and Public Knowledge. She completed her B.A. at the University of Maryland, her J.D. at New York University School of Law, and her LL.M. at Georgetown.

As a policy expert, Professor Moy has written, spoken, and advocated before agencies and Congress on consumer privacy, law enforcement surveillance, data security, device portability, copyright, and net neutrality. Her current research interests include how technology tools are used in the criminal legal system, and how consumer privacy protections may be leveraged to ensure private information is not used in ways that perpetuate and exacerbate discrimination and other societal ills.

JOHN YAROS

John Yaros is a finance, technology, digital currency/assets, and national security expert and founder/advisor to companies in the Fintech and Agtech sectors. He currently leads the Digital Currency Initiative for the non-profit, Connected DMV, where he focuses on creating faster, cheaper, safer, and more inclusive money and payments systems for the benefit of underserved communities and small businesses in the greater Washington, D.C. region. Previously, John served as a TechCongress Fellow for the prestigious U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) and was a leader within the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), serving as the Section Chief of the Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation Team. Prior to that, John worked as a Government Accountability Office (GAO) Analyst, analyzing cyber threats to the American banking system. Before joining government, John spent several years in the financial services industry at Morgan Stanley, providing financial advice and services to high-net-worth individuals and families.

John earned his M.A. in Government and Politics, with a focus on international relations, from St. John’s University, and holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Minor in Italian from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He is also a proud cancer survivor and former NCAA Division 1 ice hockey player who was a member of the Hockey East All Star Academic Team.

Advisory Board

Partners

TechCongress is an independent 501(c)(3). We were proudly incubated at the Open Technology Institute at New America from 2015 - 2021.

TechCongress has been made possible by generous contributions from the following groups and individuals 

TechCongress does not accept corporate contributions. funding comes from independent foundations as listed on this page. 

Our TechCongress Foundation Fundraising and gift acceptance policy is available here.

the following individuals made a generous seed CONTRIBUTION to the techCongress Crowdfunding CAMPAIGN in june 2015.  their support enabled us to continue operations long enough to develop proof of concept.  

we are extremely grateful for everyone who invested in us when our program was just an idea. 

FOUNDING partners

Judy Moore
Christopher Hook
Anh Doan
Jirair Ratevosian
Elia Boggia
Leslie McGorman
Samuel Drzymala
Pat Delgado
Ruth Katz
Christopher Austin
Matt Connolly
Jeffrey Zubricki
Jennifer Bernal
Sabrina Mutukisna
Lindsey Miller
Sarah Moore
Michael Yang
Yuh-Wen Ling
Lindsay Torrico
David Disborough
Sophie Miller

the following organizations are techcongress partners.