Leading the Field: Nikki Lee

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 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we’re lifting up the voices of AAPI leaders who are working to ensure the government can serve everyone equitably, with dignity and respect. This week, we spoke with Nikki Lee (she/her), the Director of Product for the New Practice Lab, a group that seeks to improve family economic security and wellbeing through the way social policy is designed and delivered. 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.

Can you tell us about the work of the New Practice Lab?

As you probably already know, policy is rarely designed with end users or delivery folks at the table, which is why many of our social policies are not as impactful as they could be. We’re trying to fix that. The New Practice Lab (NPL) is a research and policy design team focused on improving economic outcomes for families with children under five years old. Part policy research group, part pro bono consulting firm, NPL turns policy research into actionable insight for government partners across the country, helping them to improve and build the modern technologies required to deliver the social programs, services, and government benefits that support families with young children.  We’re working closely with policymakers and technologists alike to create a world where policy and delivery work hand-in-hand to understand, and then meet, peoples’ needs in a sustainable and human-centered way.

What’s the process of running a discovery sprint, and how does it surface insights from people with lived experience?

At NPL, our discovery sprints are a short, intense period of investigation focused on identifying actionable recommendations and strategies for addressing specific program or policy challenges. We generally start by having our partners walk us through what they already know, and then identify shared research priorities. Throughout that conversation, we pay particular attention to communities that have been historically excluded from these conversations, which is crucial for building policy that works for everyone. 

For example, we recently completed a project where we conducted research interviews with families living in rural areas, families experiencing homelessness, and families who spoke primarily Spanish at home. Our government partners set those priorities with us—they wanted to hear about the lived experience of families who weren’t well represented, but they didn’t yet have the resources to be able to do that entirely on their own. NPL was able to add value by hearing where the government team had knowledge gaps, spending time with families to understand their lived experience, and then bringing insights back to a willing audience.

We’re finding that a lot of government agencies have embraced the same core principles of human-centered design that we’re working with when we do discovery sprints. While they might not have team members whose job title is “User Researcher” or “Service Designer,” there are community engagement leads who are deeply connected to the on-the-ground work, customer support staff who advocate for users, and product owners who care deeply about the public. There is still so much to do on this front, but I’m grateful to spend most of my time talking about how we learn from those with lived experiences instead of litigating whether we should do it at all.

We’re finding that a lot of government agencies have embraced the same core principles of human-centered design that we’re working with when we do discovery sprints.

When multiple governments are working on similar challenges, how do we build more collaboration in spaces that are often siloed?

Collaborating successfully across organizations is dependent on two things: maintaining alignment and overcoming friction. The first thing we have to do is to get everybody oriented around solving the same problem. Different people, or departments, are responsible for working on different facets, but there has to be a shared vision for what change we’re trying to make in the world. 

We also have to understand how each of us fits into the bigger picture. When you don’t know what the people around you are doing, you start to feel like you have to solve everything yourself—but the problems that we face in government are far too large to solve alone. It works much better to divvy up the problem based on expertise and visibility, and then build a strong backbone of information sharing. 

Ideally both policymakers and technologists will be working in concert, sharing information and knowledge with one another in real time. Policymakers can set the high level research questions and hypotheses, and then the folks in more delivery-oriented roles can devise ways to answer those questions and test those hypotheses. That knowledge then feeds back to the policymakers, who use it to write more effective policy. We’re actively seeing examples of this across the paid leave ecosystem; as advocates, policymakers, and delivery teams all share information with one another they’re iterating their way towards more effective (and easier to implement) bills, less uncertainty during implementation, and smoother program operation. And the end result of that is better outcomes for the public.

Ideally both policymakers and technologists will be working in concert, sharing information and knowledge with one another in real time. 

What unique perspective do you bring to the civic tech space? How does your identity influence the way you show up to work? 

I’m keenly aware of how much policy can dictate someone’s life. My father is Chinese-American. His parents were only able to come to the US because the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, and then had to contend with the Magnuson Act’s quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year. His marriage to my mother wasn’t legal across this country until 1967, when the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional. 

So for me, I never lose sight of the fact that what we do has a very tangible impact on real peoples’ lives. I think a lot of times in the policy space, people can lose sight of the fact that this isn’t theoretical; every policy is felt and lived in by someone. My family is living proof of that. It’s impossible to separate that from how I show up at work.

I want to live in a society where people don’t have to fight for acceptance, support, and community. We should be lifting our neighbors, and they should do the same for us—regardless of if we know one another personally. I see my work in government as a way to make that support scalable and sustainable, to uplift communities far beyond what I can do by myself.

I want to live in a society where people don’t have to fight for acceptance, support, and community. We should be lifting our neighbors, and they should do the same for us.

You’re speaking at Summit this year. How does your session speak to our theme: Building a new digital age that works for all?

I’m really excited about our session, because I want people to hear about how teams can collaborate across government lines to deliver better outcomes for the public! I’ll be teaming up with two state partners to talk about work happening in the paid leave ecosystem. There are a bunch of unsolved problems in paid leave, and we’re seeing states brainstorm potential solutions and then each test out different approaches for solving these problems and share their learnings back to the group. I’ve never seen this level of deliberate collaboration and coordination happening between independent government teams before, and it’s been really inspirational to watch. 

What’s particularly exciting is that this wasn’t dictated by any central rulemaking body; it has all stemmed from an organic desire to support and learn from one another. And we at NPL are delighted to be along for the ride, acting as thought partners and force multipliers for the amazing work that our state partners are doing.

Want to hear more about Nikki’s work? She’s presenting a breakout session called “Cross-state collaboration to build digitally native paid leave systems” at Code for America Summit, happening May 28–30 in Oakland, CA. Find out more about Summit and get your ticket today.