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.
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.
Encountering system-level problems led me to understand the importance of the means by which one takes action. Inequitable systems create costs borne by all of us, and thus require government leadership. I’m excited to be a TechCongress fellow because it’s a rare chance to approach questions of how technology can be developed and deployed equitably with knowledge, the intent of action, and the right means to create change.
The TechCongress Congressional Innovation Fellowship offers me a way to balance public service while also getting a more intimate understanding of the legislative branch. I hope to help expand and increase congressional access to technologists and Special Operations veterans in order to build and implement better policymaking—with the hope that the decades to come will encompass better technology, privacy, and defense policymaking.
I came across the TechCongress by chance, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to move beyond policy research and into the dynamic world of policy making. I truly believe that emerging biotechnologies will have profound and unseen impacts. I am excited to apply my technical expertise and to work with our elected officials in ensuring a safer and more secure future with emerging biotechnologies. This year will be an invaluable learning experience on my journey into public service, and I cannot wait to get started.
I’m very excited for the opportunity to explore this brand new path, especially at a time when tech is so ubiquitous in our lives. Between current issues around cybersecurity and social media mis/disinformation, and emerging technologies like AI and the metaverse, there is plenty to be done in this space. There’s so much for me to learn, and I’m eager to take it on!
A former fellow, Victoria Houed, mentioned TechCongress in her blog post on the Stanford Social Innovation Review:
This feeling of empowerment as a newly minted public interest technologist prompted me to apply to TechCongress, a year-long fellowship that places technologists into a congressional office or committee. I had no idea when I applied that I would end up working for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2020 or that two months after my arrival in Washington, DC, a deadly pandemic would begin.
The Federal News Network announced TechCongress’ role in contributing tech expertise to Congress:
The CAO, which first announced its plan to create a digital services office in March at a hearing of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, is hiring both new employees but also bringing in experts from the U.S. Digital Service as well as TechCongress, an innovation fellowship that places technologists with Congress for a year.
MeriTalk announces TechCongress’ grant from the Knight Foundation, and reports on our goal to place 20 technologists in Congress by 2026:
Congress is due to get a big influx of skilled technologists who will act as advisers to congressional offices courtesy of the TechCongress Congressional Innovation Fellowship.
The Knight Foundation invested $2.5 million in the TechCongress organization, which places early and mid-career technologists in congressional offices. The funding will allow TechCongress to place up to 120 technologists on the Hill through the fellowship program, the Knight Foundation announced.
To date, TechCongress has already placed 65 fellows in Congress, and 15 of them have had their positions converted to full-time roles. The organization’s goal with the new investment is to increase its annual fellowship class size to 24 members, with the hope of converting one-third of those fellows into full-time positions.
“Understanding the mechanics of current, new and emerging tech is critical for governing in the 21st century,” Lilian Coral, the Knight Foundation’s director for national strategy and technology innovation, said. “By increasing technical expertise in Congress, TechCongress fellows help our elected officials better assess how technology impacts Americans’ lives.”
The investment will also allow TechCongress to increase its recruitment efforts and boost the representation of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in tech.
The fellowship brings in data scientists, computer scientists, and computer engineers and places them in an equal number of Democratic and Republican offices. The fellows are then able to advise members of Congress on issues like IT modernization and technology policy.
“Our fellows are forward-thinkers that not only bring critical knowledge to urgent tech policy challenges but also bring new and creative methods to problem-solving by centering users at the heart of the policymaking process,” Travis Moore, founder and executive director of TechCongress, said.
“Fellows are ensuring that lawmakers are at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy challenges, while also supporting Congress to leverage new and emerging tech to make government officials more responsive to the needs of their constituents,” Moore continued.
The application for TechCongress’ 2023 Congressional Innovation Fellowship class opens June 7 and will run through August 10.
FedScoop reports on TechCongress’ new grant from the Knight Foundation and the work our fellows have done:
TechCongress plans to place about 120 early and mid-career technologists in key congressional offices to advise lawmakers on technology decisions critical to the success of cities.
The Knight Foundation invested $2.5 million in TechCongress’ Congressional Innovation Fellowship to embed data science, computer engineering and web design experts with the goal of having about 40 become full-time positions.
TechCongress began the effort in 2015 and has seen the Knight Foundation provide $3.9 million total in grants that sent 65 fellows to Congress, about 20 of whom were retained.
The fellowship launched, in part, because only seven out of about 3,500 congressional staffers had formal tech training in 2015.
TechCongress hopes about 40 of the 120 new fellows become full-time, bringing the number up to 60 in key offices it’s identified dealing with cybersecurity, IT modernization, tech antitrust, health care, and website issues.
Because TechCongress wants consensus around the technology solutions lawmakers support, it places diverse fellows in Republican and Democratic offices equally.
TechCongress also created a Congressional Digital Service Fellowship to help Congress transition to remote work during the height of the pandemic, and the body opted to make a House Digital Service permanent in January.
The hope is with 60 full-time technologists in key congressional advisory positions, that will become the standard, and TechCongress might move on to expanding the tech capacity of other government institutions like the judiciary.
TechCongress’ founder, Travis Moore, recently interviewed with the Sunwater Institute about TechCongress and modernization in Congress and Washington:
The Knight Foundation generously granted TechCongress with a $2.5 million investment:
TechCongress, a nonpartisan initiative that places early and mid-career technologists as advisers to members of Congress, will expand tech expertise on Capitol Hill thanks to a $2.5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Through its Congressional Innovation Fellowship, TechCongress pairs early and mid-career technologists with members of Congress. The fellows include data scientists, computer scientists and computer engineers, who serve as advisors on technology policy and congressional modernization efforts. The program places an equal number of fellows in Republican and Democratic offices, and has also placed fellows who identify as Independents.
Knight Foundation’s latest investment in TechCongress will allow the organization to:
Upskill the tech capacity of Congress by bringing 60 technologists to Capitol Hill by 2026, expanding the Congressional Innovation Fellowship cohorts from 16 to 24 fellows annually, and converting one-third of the fellows into full-time Congressional staff
Increase representation of underrepresented groups in tech
Boost recruitment efforts to ensure political diversity on an issue critical to the future of U.S. democracy
When TechCongress launched In 2015, only seven out of the 3,500 legislative staff in Capitol Hill had any formal technology training. Pew Research from 2021, however, found that 95% of American adults were online.
“Understanding the mechanics of current, new and emerging tech is critical for governing in the 21st century,” said Lilian Coral, Knight’s director for national strategy and technology innovation. “By increasing technical expertise in Congress, TechCongress fellows help our elected officials better assess how technology impacts Americans’ lives. ”
Since 2016, TechCongress has sent 65 fellows to Congress. They’ve worked with members such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA.) The fellows have also served in Congressional Committees, including the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Senate Banking Committee.
The impact of TechCongress was evident during the pandemic lock down in 2020. Fellows supported the House Modernization Committee to facilitate the work-from-home transition for Congress. A pilot Congressional Digital Service effort was put in place quickly and made permanent by the House in January 2022. The House Digital Service aims to adopt digital technology and platforms to improve the ability of members of Congress to deliver for constituents.
Other examples of TechCongress’s impact include:
Changing defense procurement rules to allow startups to better compete for contracts
Helping draft the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee report on tech monopolies
Advising the House Modernization Committee’s recommendations to make Congress more responsive and effective
Helping pass the OPEN Government Data Act into law
Raising the level of tech policy discussion in Congress, including around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and tech procurement
“Our fellows are forward-thinkers that not only bring critical knowledge to urgent tech policy challenges, but also bring new and creative methods to problem solving by centering users at the heart of the policymaking process,” said Travis Moore, founder and executive director of TechCongress. “Fellows are ensuring that lawmakers are at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy challenges, while also supporting Congress to leverage new and emerging tech to make government officials more responsive to the needs of their constituents.’
Politico recently announced the funding that the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation granted TechCongress:
BIG $$ FOR TECH CONGRESS— No, not big tech $$ for Congress. That’s different. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $2.25 million in the nonpartisan TechCongress initiative that launched in 2015 to build and expand tech expertise on Capitol Hill. Through its Congressional Innovation Fellowship, TechCongress places early and mid-career data scientists, computer scientists, and engineers with members of Congress in both parties. They advise on tech policy and congressional modernization. The funding influx will expand the fellowship cohorts from 16 to 24 fellows each year and convert one-third of the fellows into full-time Congressional staff.
“Fellows are ensuring that lawmakers are at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy challenges, while also supporting Congress to leverage new and emerging tech to make government officials more responsive to the needs of their constituents,” Travis Moore, founder and executive director of TechCongress in a statement.
Katy Knight and Laura Maher mentioned TechCongress in a recent article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review on how philanthropy can help fuel an equitable innovation ecosystem.
The authors write: ”TechCongress, which pairs talented technologists with members of Congress and congressional committees, is an excellent example of this matchmaking between diverse tech talent and specialized policymaking.”
TechCongress is mentioned by the Stanford Social Innovation Review:
More recently, seed investments in the highly effective TechCongress, a nonprofit that places technologists to serve as technology policy advisors to members of Congress through fellowships, served as a precursor to the launch of a new digital service team in congress.
TechCongress’ founder, Travis Moore, recently spoke with the Washingtonian about ways to mitigate the effects of social media:
If hiding apps in folders doesn’t curb your usage as much as you’d like, try doing what Travis Moore, founder and executive director of the fellowship program TechCongress, does: delete the apps altogether and use the mobile web version. “It’s really clunky,” says Moore. For instance, videos on Instagram don’t autoplay in a web browser—unlike on the app, which doesn’t provide an option to turn off autoplay. “So all of the behavioral-targeting tricks just don’t work the same way. Like, they don’t work well at all, which makes it much better for me to be conscious and limit my time.”
