Justin Cutler is the Recreation Services Director for the city of Seattle. Previously, he founded RecRx, a company that manages referrals between medical providers and recreation services for evidence-based chronic disease management programs, and served as the Recreation Services Manager for Westminster, Colorado. We spoke with him about equity, data, and the future of the

A few years ago, pop-ups were known as a source of frustration. As internet nuisances designed to spring ads on you, they inevitably led to calculations for the easiest exit with the fewest clicks. No one wanted to stay in a pop-up. But now, it wouldn’t be uncommon to spend a few hours in a

Brian Smith is a Senior Economic Development Coordinator for the City of Durham who led the redesign of the City’s Black Wall Street Gardens greenspace.   Public urban spaces, unlike the premise of Field of Dreams, stubbornly do not subscribe to the philosophy of “build it and they will come.” Instead, they must begin with

Nishant Shah is a product manager who formerly worked for the U.S. Digital Service.   As a member of the U.S. Digital Service’s Department of Homeland Security team from 2016-2017, I had a chance to work on projects – like refugee admissions and disaster response – that were straightforward applications of USDS’s principle, “do the

Taylor Schooley is the Research & Policy Manager and LA County’s new Division of Youth Diversion and Development (YDD). Lauren Greenawalt is a New America Public Interest Technology (PIT) Fellow. Together, they are working to build YDD’s data strategy and understanding of data ethics.   Even a first time arrest can keep a young person

Gretchen Greene is a policy advisor, computer vision scientist, and lawyer who works to  develop best practices for AI and ethics in government, universities and industry. She is an AI and Governance Affiliate Researcher at the MIT Media Lab and the Harvard Berkman Klein Center.   When you’re advising a government on the ethics of

The Los Angeles Tech Talent Pipeline is an initiative that places about 200 young people from underrepresented backgrounds in tech internships every summer with companies like Snap Inc., Boingo Wireless, Cornerstone on Demand, Tastemade and mitu Network— as well as in the LA City government. 95% of the students in the Pipeline are low income,

Coding it Forward runs the Civic Digital Fellowship, a program that places college and graduate students from across the country in federal government agencies to work as software engineers, data scientists, designers, and product managers for the summer. We spoke with Chris Kuang, a junior at Harvard and the co-founder and Director of Operations of

Emily Tavoulareas is a civic technologist working with leaders across industries as they navigate the complex endeavor of modernization, digital transformation, and organizational change. She teaches about civic innovation and Human-Centered Design at Columbia University. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyTav   For the last 4 years I’ve taught a class called Civic Innovation +

Julia Duncan is an information technology consultant who works with the One Journey Coalition, a group that aims to connect people in America with refugees in order to change the narrative about refugee journeys. She has also hosted events to highlight organizations that use  innovation and creativity to help refugees.   There are currently 68.5