Learn more about our January 2025 Congressional Fellowships by listening to a recording of one of our info sessions.
We’re looking for up to 16 engineers, computer scientists, and other technologists to join us as fellows in January 2025.
We award $500 to someone who refers a veteran or transitioning service member, underrepresented person of color, woman, or nonbinary individual to the fellowship.
As a Congressional Innovation Scholar, I have the opportunities to leverage my training and knowledge to help promote science-based regulation of AI and other technologies that can be used to disenfranchise and discriminate against minority groups, threaten democracy, and propagate disinformation. I am excited to grow and learn through the fellowship as I continue to support the pursuit of knowledge while also promoting a more equitable and better informed society.
During my short tenure on the Hill so far, I’ve become convinced that policy is only as good as its implementation, and that technology (along with good technologists who can build it) is one key to this implementation. Poor implementation means fewer people access the services they need and ultimately contributes to government distrust.
Many of the problems I had encountered, however, had reached the halls of Congress, and I understood the value that those experiences of mine would bring if I ever worked for Congress. Considering all of that, it’s hardly surprising that I joined TechCongress. I did not come here with some grand political ambition, nor do I have my path fully laid out, but I did make one important decision about my path: once again, I would not put my head down and ignore the problem.
For twelve years, I was a foreign correspondent covering technology and authoritarianism regimes. I lived in or reported from China, South and North Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, Cambodia and Turkey, where I covered authoritarian politics, civil wars and a genocide, as well as their links to technology.
“Over the last five or six years, newly created modern digital service organizations have made government more efficient, more accessible, and more reliable—and we’re just getting started. I joined TechCongress’ Congressional Digital Service Fellowship to help bring this model and practices to the first branch.”
“Not only do I get to expand upon my knowledge of the complex system that is government, but I also get to do my part in helping Congress build systems to function more effectively during these unprecedented times. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this process and am excited to see what our team can accomplish with our time here.”
“I wanted to continue to learn, grow, and evolve while working towards a more positive future. I wanted to work in an area with high impact, something that could create meaningful change. Most importantly, I wanted to come home happy, knowing I did the best I could to fulfill the dream of positively impacting as many people as possible.”
