As a child of immigrants, the importance of education was instilled in me early on. My education was a stepping stone to many opportunities, including Microsoft and where I am today at TechCongress.
I was reminded of this in 2020, when the pandemic started and the world slowed down and left me with lots of time to be introspective. During this time, I was constantly asking myself the age old question: “What am I doing with my life?”
Soon after, I got involved with the education non-profit called Care for Students. Our mission is to enable skilled volunteers from around the world to improve learning outcomes for the next generation of driven public-school students particularly those of low-income and underrepresented backgrounds, through virtual tutoring.
Around the same time, I remember reading headlines about a viral photo of kids sitting outside of McDonald’s and Taco Bell in order to use their wifi to do homework. This was the first time I heard of the term, “the digital divide.” It was shocking to learn that in this digital age, internet access - an integral part of my life and this gateway to seemingly everything (e.g. education, healthcare, entertainment, business, etc.) - was not available and accessible to all.
It was eye-opening to see that without broadband infrastructure, Care for Students would not be possible and even the Microsoft phone I was working on at the time would be nothing more than just a pretty paperweight. And it was even more eye-opening to realize that on a larger scale, technology, although rapidly evolving and with the ability to improve people’s lives, can simultaneously harm or exclude instead.
I asked myself, “Which side of technology am I on and what can I do about it?”
When I got the opportunity to apply and join TechCongress, I took a leap of faith. It has been an exhilarating and scary pivot, and I have no idea where this will lead me. My fellowship is just beginning, but I am excited to leverage my consumer electronics and non-profit experience to work on policies that empower the next generation of students. While doing so, I want to ensure that nobody gets left behind.
Julie is serving with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and supporting issues related to AI use and ethics, Automation, broadband access, cybersecurity, and data privacy.