As the country began to shelter in place, we realized that we are at a tipping point. Technology touches every aspect of our lives – it helps us track and predict the spread of COVID-19, protects our financial and medical information, and lets us stay connected to our family.
Recognizing the importance of tech literacy in Congress and building off the successes of our alum, this year we decided to triple our Congressional Innovation Scholars Program and place six talented technologists in Congress. This year’s applicant pool was the strongest yet and demonstrated the zeal of technologists to help bridge the gap between technology and policy. We’re so excited to welcome our third class of Congressional Innovation Scholars to Washington!
Crystal Grant is a recent graduate of Emory University, receiving her Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology. Her research leveraged bioinformatics tools to better understand human health and aging. After defending her Ph.D., she worked as a Science and Technology Policy Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academies contributing to research policies to increase the number of Women of Color in tech.
Zach Barnes is an engineer with a specialization in AI who has spent much of his career turning cutting-edge research into usable solutions. Most recently, he worked at a startup designing algorithms for self-driving cars. He holds a MS in computer science from Stanford where he taught AI and conducted research in medical imaging.
Jackson Brietzke received his Master of Science in Information Security Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2020. Additionally, he received a certificate in Cyber Forensics and Incident Response from the Software Engineering Institute. While in school he worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for two years.
Noam Kantor is a mathematician with strong interests in civic tech, technology ethics, and technology policy. He recently concluded his doctoral work at Oxford University in number theory, and spent summer 2019 as a Civic Digital Fellow in the US Census Bureau. He is excited to bring his love for teaching and learning to the halls of Congress.
Genevieve Fried worked at New York University at the AI Now Institute, where she researches the social and policy implications of artificial intelligence. She has been involved in a number of policy and advocacy efforts around equitable, responsible, and accountable development and deployment of algorithms and is published in both academic and non-academic venues. A graduate of McGill University, she worked for several years as an artificial intelligence researcher and manager of the Reasoning and Learning Lab.
Sohum Pawar is a policy researcher with experience helping shape systemic responses to climate change and cyber threats. A scientist and engineer by training, he has explored tech-driven policy issues at the White House, EPA, a cyber threat intelligence firm, and a nuclear reactor startup. He recently earned an M.S. from MIT, and holds an A.B. from Harvard University.
But we’re not stopping there. We know there’s still important work to be done in order to modernize Congress’ digital infrastructure and deliver services more efficiently. With this in mind, we launched the Congressional Digital Service Sprint Fellowship, where we recruited a team of technologists to help build products to aid Congress over the span of eight months.
After just 12 days of recruitment, we received applications from over 260 incredibly strong candidates. We are thrilled to welcome our Congressional Digital Service Fellows and see the impact of work they will do to help modernize Congress!
Leisel Bogan is the Director of the Congressional Digital Service Fellowship for TechCongress and the Senior Congressional Digital Service Fellow. Prior to her current role she served as a Senior Fellow for Cybersecurity, Technology and National Security in the office of Senator Mark Warner. Leisel has worked as a Chief of Staff and research director for former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and geopolitical consulting firm RiceHadleyGates, as an early member of a special projects team at Palantir Technologies, and on global cybersecurity strategy at PwC.
Alex Prokop is a civic technologist and software engineer who specializes in modernization projects and in building efficient, respectful government digital services. He has led teams in high-profile efforts like the rebuilding of HealthCare.gov and implementing major VA benefits legislation.
Britney Lyons has spent her career focusing on technology - honing skills in user research, design, development, and project management. In 2018, a Code for America fellowship with the City of Austin ignited a passion to improve the role of technology within government. Most recently, she co-founded a company that works with cities to build software for their unique needs.
Johncarlo Cerna is a recent graduate in Computer Science from the University of Florida. Previously, he interned at Motorola Solutions, NASA, and Microsoft in software engineering and product management. Most recently, Johncarlo was a Civic Digital Fellow under US Citizenship and Immigration Services assisting the Asylum directorate. As an early-career technologist, Johncarlo is passionate about utilizing technology to modernize government operations.