The question of diversity in the technology industry is one I have few answers for. Lots of evidence to examine, but few answers. I do know it’s worth examining, though, and that not having the answers isn’t an excuse to …
Jennifer PahlkaFounder/Executive Director
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Jennifer
Civic Commons Takes Off!
We’re pleased to announce that our Civic Commons project, incubated in partnership with OpenPlans, is taking off with the leadership of Andrew McLaughlin, formerly Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the U.S., and Nick Grossman, formerly Director of Civic Works at …
Code for Oakland: June 4th
So I’m really excited that Oakland is finally having its own hack day on June 4th: Code for Oakland. The event was inspired by the FCC’s Apps for Communities contest, which was announced by FCC Chair Julius Genachowski in Oakland last month. There’s so much that can be done to make Oakland’s data useful to citizens. Let’s prove that.
Code for Communities: Rise to the Challenge!
Everyone at Code for America – fellows, staff, board, supporters – believes that the combination of data and developers can change the world. What’s needed is more catalysts to put that data together with developers, add some inspiration and incentives, and …
Interviews and Events and Apps: Oh My! A Report from Month 2
Our fellows have returned from four weeks in City Hall with their municipal government counterparts, and I’m pleased to share a little bit about the first ever City Residency month. There have been challenges big and small, and we’ve learned a lot. Overall, though, we couldn’t be happier with the results. To give you just a taste, the first fellows conducted 444 interviews, held 4 DataCamps, attended 68 other community events, and have at least 12 side projects in the works for their cities.
To Our Partners In City Hall
Today, the first class of Code for America fellows start their month-long residencies in your cities. Having just spent an amazing month with all of them in San Francisco (where we all experienced the first ever CfA Institute), I think you’re in for a treat. I thought I’d write a short note about the Fellows’ progress so far and what to look forward to in the month ahead. We think you’ll find the first class of fellows to be a talented, committed, mission-driven group. From the first hours they spent in our office, it was apparent what brought them together for this program: a belief in Code for America’s vision and a genuine desire for public service.
What Did You Do Before?
There was a great moment yesterday when Eric Ries asked the fellows, “what were your roles before you came to Code for America? How many of you were programmers? Designers? Project managers?” Hands went up and down as our teams displayed their …
