Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
TechCongress is building 21st century government with technology talent, placing technologists to work directly for Members of Congress through our Congressional Innovation Fellowships. However, in working to bridge the knowledge and experience divide in Congress, it is critical to be aware of, and actively work to improve, the lack of diversity that is present in both the tech industry and Congress.
Our founder, Travis Moore, got his first opportunity on Capitol Hill through a family connection. Like his experience, getting your start in Congress often relies on who you know, which by nature excludes people with relevant lived experience, outside of the coasts and the cities, from making it through the front door and serving their country. We think this has to change.
In addition, many entry level jobs do not pay a living wage, making it difficult for individuals that don’t have another means of financial support to begin a career and subsequently advance in Congress.
TechCongress is committed to building an ecosystem of inclusive cross-sector technology policy leaders—leaders that represent the diversity of the United States. This commitment drives the procedure for our recruitment process and is evident in our results. To be clear, we still have a lot of work to do, but we are proud that we’ve prioritized inclusion from Day 1 of the organization (42% of our fellows overall are people of color, for example) and that we’ve continued to make gradual improvements since the program was created.
Our driving principles are worth repeating at the outset: we embrace diversity across multiple dimensions and encourage applicants from underrepresented communities in technology and in Congress, including those from minority gender, race, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups, and veterans who have served our country in uniform and want to continue to serve.
We are proud to be the first organization in Washington, D.C., or in politics, to adopt a diversity referral award, which according to Kapor Center Founder Freada Klein, makes “a statistically significant difference in decreasing unfair treatment & increasing retention.”
*Last updated July 2023*
Gender
TechCongress is committed to building a more inclusive Congress and is proud of our efforts to create a diverse class of fellows that are a part of underrepresented communities.
race
TechCongress aims to create a racially diverse class of fellows each and every cycle. We are proud to say that underrepresented communities make up a majority of our total fellows and we stand behind our commitment to diverse and equitable recruitment.
Our hiring process.
TechCongress seeks to prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our hiring processes. As a result, first-round screenings are always anonymous. This means that all personally identifiable information including gender, race, name, address, and political ideology is removed during the initial review. By doing anonymous review, we hope to remove conscious and unconscious biases from our review process.
1. Anonymous Review
To best remove bias from applications, all personally identifiable information is hidden to our reviewers. Each reviewer independently scores every applicant on a number of criteria. The scores are then averaged out and a senior TechCongress team member selects the top 10-20% of applicants for interviews.
2. First-Round Interview
Each selected applicant goes through a video interview with 4-6 TechCongress team members. Every applicant is asked the same questions, and the interviewees score each candidate prior to discussing with one another to further eliminate biases.
3. Deliberation
Once applicant interviews are scored, an external board of reviewers selects which candidates need a second-round interview.
4. Second-Round Interview
The final candidates go through a second-round interview before final offers are extended. These interviews are to further ensure that the candidates are a good fit for the program.
Read more about our DEI Practices
What you can expect — including timelines and interviews — in our fellowship application review process.