Leading the Field: Ash Campo

For our “Leading the Field” Q&A series, we’re speaking with leaders in the civic/gov tech space who are driving important change to make government work by the people, for the people, in the digital age. For Pride Month this year, we’re lifting up the voices of queer leaders who are working to ensure the government can serve everyone equitably, with dignity and respect.   This week, we spoke with Ash Campo (they/them), a Staff Software Engineer at Code for America. At Code for America, we welcome a broad diversity of viewpoints—and we strive to let people speak in their own words about their own unique experiences. With that in mind, the following has received only minor edits for length and clarity, and the views expressed here reflect those of the author.

Tell us a little bit about your work as a software engineer at Code for America.

I’ve been working on the GetCalFresh team since 2017, and in that time, I’ve been able to build critical features to help our clients navigate the complicated system of receiving CalFresh (SNAP) benefits. While being the technical lead, I helped our team expand from operating in a select number of counties to all of California, build out the semi-annual reporting feature (SAR-7) to assist recipients of CalFresh in renewing their benefits, and transition our backend to utilize a new portal built that could support all counties in the state. As a software engineer at Code for America, we don’t just write code. We work with every discipline to make sure what we’re building is the right fit for our clients. I am especially proud of the way that we empower our coworkers with lived experience to bring that perspective to our work. We’re not faceless workers behind the scenes, we’re people who can bring every part of ourselves to the table. 

What drew you to the type of work you’d get to do in civic tech?

I’ve always pursued mission-driven work since starting my career in software engineering. I worked at a few for-profit, mission-driven companies and quickly realized that there’s only so much change you can actually fight for when you’re outside of government. I saw Code for America as being in a unique position to actually influence change as a partner to the government. Here, a core value of everyone I work with is putting our clients first, and I’ve witnessed firsthand the active effort to hire people with lived experience in the systems we work with on every level.  I was so impressed to see the way that the GetCalFresh team centered the people actually applying for CalFresh. 

Here, a core value of everyone I work with is putting our clients first, and I’ve witnessed firsthand the active effort to hire people with lived experience in the systems we work with on every level.

It’s very easy to fall into a tech-saviorism mentality when you’re the one behind the computer. Even during the interview process at Code for America, this was a topic we talked about. I saw the way that people were able to acknowledge the role of power that we sit in as technologists—and instead of shying away from that discomfort, we discussed it. On the engineering team, we think through the way we implement things carefully, we consider our users every step of the way, and we don’t pursue flashy new technology just for the sake of it. 

One thing that stuck with me, and that has kept me at Code for America all these years, is how deeply we hold our mission on the GetCalFresh team. Andrew Hyder, one of the founding members of our team, summed it up perfectly: we’re here to “feed the people.” People deserve access to food, and every single thing we do should be in service of making that a reality.

Have you received any good advice lately from someone else in the field?

Some of the best advice I’ve gotten is that improving a government system isn’t something we can do in a day. It’s a generational task. Working in the CalFresh ecosystem, which has years and years of laws built around it, can be challenging. We won’t be able to fix it with one application or one intervention on behalf of our clients. This work is something we do in community with our partners who are helping people every day and government advocates who push for change from the inside. We need to recognize the small pieces of progress even when the bigger picture seems daunting. There will be wins and losses in this work; the most important thing I’ve learned is to acknowledge both, and not push myself to burnout in the process. 

There will be wins and losses in this work; the most important thing I’ve learned is to acknowledge both, and not push myself to burnout in the process. 

How does your identity influence the way you approach your work?

I identify as a transmasc nonbinary queer. Like many queer people, I exist in a community that often creates its own structures of care and mutual aid outside of those that cisgender heterosexual people do. Many of my friends do not have relationships with their own families, and relying on community care and chosen family is one of the only ways we can care for each other and keep each other safe. Transgender people especially are demonized across the United States. Our right to exist peacefully in public spaces, to take joy in queer community, and to access basic systems of government assistance are under attack by those who wish to see us erased. It’s impossible for me to separate my work from my identity. Queer people, especially queers of color, are disproportionately unhoused, experience food scarcity, and are attacked by the legal system. We have to create vast networks of support because the current systems available are not adequate, and were not designed with us in mind. 

In my day to day work, I identify and advocate for alleviating moments of friction that make the already stressful experience of applying for CalFresh even harder for queer people. For example, the GetCalFresh team added the ability to include a preferred name in your application for CalFresh, a benefit which otherwise requires many transgender people to endure being deadnamed and misgendered over and over in order to receive it. We also expanded options for selecting your gender when applying for CalFresh, where previously the only options were “Male” and “Female.” While none of this can actually solve the underlying structural issues that exist, our work is a step in the right direction of including LGBTQIA+ people in systems that are often built by people who look nothing like them.