I have worked at the nexus of technology, design, and the public interest for nearly 20 years — originally in the context of international development, but for the past decade more domestically in the delivery of public services. Since 2019, I have been studying and teaching about the role of technology in the delivery of public policy.
In June 2024 I left my role as Managing Chair of the Georgetown Initiative on Tech & Society, to focus on creating a primary source archive of the founding story of the U.S. Digital Service — a team I had the great honor of being a part of from its inception. I am also leading several other projects related to technology and public policy, building capacity in public institutions, and exploring the question: how might we better equip policymakers (and/or institutions) with the skills and knowledge they need to make more effective decisions related to technology?
BRIDGING ACADEMIA + POLICY: I am a founding Advisory Board member of the Public Tech Leadership Collaborative—a collective of scholars and researchers, and government leaders committed to addressing the social and cultural implications of data and technology. We create private spaces for policymakers to explore the rough edges of emerging or ambiguous questions / challenges.
TEACHING: I teach two courses at the McCourt School for Public Policy. One on Public Interest Technology, and the other on Human-Centered Design and Public Policy.
DESIGNING CRASH-COURSES: Digital Fundamentals, Digital Fundamentals for Government (a partnership between the Beeck Center + apolitical). I’m also working with Data & Society on a new pilot course that blends digital product with STS concepts.
Outside of Georgetown, I host a podcast with my alma mater (William & Mary), and am an Associate Editor at a new international peer reviewed journal that aims to cultivate discussion and constructive debate around science, technology, innovation, policy, and the global south.
How did I get here?
I studied government and international affairs, and my career began in international development where I designed and implemented programs for women in the Middle East—specifically in the Gulf. As an early adopter, I pulled emerging digital [consumer] technology into my programs and quickly noticed that it was clearly not designed for the people or context I was working in. That observation drew me to technology, where in pursuit of understanding how design/product decisions are made, I took on roles as a product manager.
After several years in product, I had an opportunity to bring my experience into government. From 2013 - 2018 I worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the White House to modernize the way the federal government delivers services to the public. From co-founding the first agency-level team of the U.S. Digital Service and modernizing the Veterans application for healthcare, to helping pilot and scale the Human-Centered Design methodology with an intrepid team at the VA Center for Innovation and serving as Senior Policy Advisor the U.S. Chief Technology Officer at the White House, I experienced the degree to which technology is a dependency of public policy.