Last week I wrote a bit about how the reality of having such a great group of applicants is driving home the importance of providing these talented passionate fellows with a great experience. Here’s one of the ways we’re going to do this: we’ve hired Meghan Reilly as our director of operations. Meghan and I worked closely together at TechWeb on the Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 events. Meghan makes the trains run on time, but she does it while making the people around her smile. Smart, organized, practical, tough and experienced, Meghan makes her team feel safe because you learn that she simply won’t tolerate her team walking into a situation unprepared. She also has integrity of the highest order. She has a big job here, ranging from HR to finance to logistics to the fellows program, and she’s the only person I absolutely know can do it. When I finally convinced her to come to Code for America, I can tell you I danced quite a happy dance. With all that we need to do to bring 23 fellows on board at once and help them succeed in their projects, we -and the Fellows- are very lucky to have Meghan.
Meghan will have the help of the whole team, but particularly of another new hire, Som Pourfarzaneh, who masterfully supports both Meghan and myself (apparently I have trouble keeping my calendar straight, and Som has already been a huge help in getting me where I need to be when I need to be there). Som is in the process of getting his PhD in theology and cultural and historical study of religions at the Graduate Theological Union and has worked at the Neighborhood Parks Council, where he gathered and analyzed data for the Playground Report Card, among other local government tasks. We’re delighted to have both Som and Meghan on board.
