CivTech Talks

Marina Nitze, the Obama administration's Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Nick Sinai, the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States, come onto Think Civic to talk about their new book, Hack Your Bureaucracy. Marina and Nick dive into a few of the important lessons from their book, their experiences in the Obama administration, and how individuals in civic tech, entry level professionals, and college students looking to venture into civic technology can use Marina and Nick's experiences to hack their bureaucracy and accomplish major projects.

Sha Hwang discusses how Nava PBC designs and implements projects in the civic tech space at the federal, state, and local levels of government

Evan and Chizo talk with Mary Lazzeri and Lapedra Tolson about the public procurement process and increasing opportunities for women-owned small businesses in the digital service space. Mary has written two op-eds highlighting the need for WOSBs to work together and key policy changes that the Biden administration could take to reach their WOSB targets. Alongside Mary, Lapedra Tolson, the co-founder of Friends from the City and other digital services formed joined us to discuss her experience as a women-owned small business owner as well. Lapedra currently sits on the board of the Digital Services Coalition, a coalition form to accelerate the growth or ability of the government to implement services that focus on good usability, reliable technology, and accessibility for all while also benefiting the individuals and firms that are part of the community.

Chizo and Evan talk with Mariel Reed, the CEO and cofounder of CoProcure. Mariel discusses the public procurement process, its impact on our communities, and how her company is improving access to procurements!

Hey y'all! It's Ajay here. It has been a few months since I have been behind the microphone at think civic because of some travel (some vacation and some work, although mainly I have been traveling to visit family and friends that I have not seen since before the pandemic). As I have been venturing across Europe with brief stops in Africa and Asia, I have been thinking a lot about how my own life path ended up to where I am today. Since being behind a microphone is at times very therapeutic, I decided to sit down this evening in Lucerne, Switzerland and just talk (just me, my microphone, and my laptop) about my own story: how my values were instilled at a young age, my college and Facebook experiences, dealing with ableism at FAANG companies, and finding the civic tech community and workplace that I am so thankful to be a part of to this day. I hope you all enjoy this surprise episode.

Chizo and Evan spoke with Billy Lim, the former Senior Organizer for Code for America's National Action Team. Billy touches on his childhood growing up in Milwaukee, his experience working as a teacher and organizer for AAPI Communities, details on the Reimagine 911 National Action Network, and his advice for those looking to make meaningful career pivots

Ajay and Chizo spoke with Clay Garner, the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of San Jose. Clay's position is within the Mayor's Office of Technology and Innovation. Clay shares how he started as a pop star in China and ended up working in civic technology, the problems and departments he works with, from Internet access to libraries, and how early-career professionals can venture in the world of civic and government tech.

Ajay Jain and Evan De Broux talk with Coding It Forward's Rachel Dodell on the Season 2 premiere of Think Civic! Rachel discusses Coding It Forward's origin story, the Civic Digital Fellowship and the Civic Innovation Corps, building community in the civic tech and public interest tech spaces, and what the future looks like for Coding It Forward.

Chris Kuang discusses the General Services Administration's new civic technology fellowship, the United States Digital Corps, and why recent college graduates should consider utilizing technology to solve problems in the government!

Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank talk about their new book, Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology, and why college students and early career professionals should work in public interest technology

Lauren Chambers comes on CivTech Talks to chat about obtaining her degree in Astrophysics and African American Studies at Yale University, why she left astronomy due to racial inequalities that face Black astronomers and technologists, how she ended up as the Staff Technologist at the ACLU of Massachusetts, the amazing technical and social projects she has worked on during her career, and some of the amazing resources and organizations that help individuals enter civic and social tech careers.

Evan and Ajay talk with Harvard Business School Professor and former Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Business Mitchell Weiss about his book We the Possibility. Mitchell Weiss discusses why government should transition to "possibility government", how government should be more accepting of failure, and how civic technologists can make the biggest impact in government.

In our second episode with Vinesh Kannan, Vinesh discusses how studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology, working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and attending Chi Hack Night enabled him to build a set of values that guided his decision to leave Google. Evan dives into how Vinesh inspired him to also embark on a civic tech journey of his own. Ajay and Vinesh converse about the gaslighting that can occur at Facebook and Google.

In part one of our two-part series, Vinesh Kannan discusses his resignation from Google due to the company's mistreatment of Dr. Timnit Gebru, an ethics artificial intelligence researcher, and April Curley, a diversity recruiter. Vinesh and Ajay compare and contrast their experiences at Google and Facebook, describe how both companies suppress dissent within their ranks, and how civic technologists can learn from their experiences. Evan announces CivTech Talk’s partnership with Impactful. If you’re interested in diving deeper into public interest tech, make sure to visit our friends over at Impactful at weareimpactful.org.

Ajay and Evan talk with Bob Zhao about his study abroad experience at the London School of Economics, where he got to observe the UK’s Government Digital Service and their civic tech practices. From there, the trio discuss Bob’s American civic tech journey at the Washington University chapter of Design for America, the Office of Personnel Management, and with the National Institutes of Health’s STRIDES Initiative. Evan demonstrates why he is the podcast’s biggest Anglophile.

Ajay and Evan chat with Jessie Singh about utilizing technology with COVID-19 projects, coding for the National Institutes of Health during his time as a Coding It Forward Civic Digital Fellow, and finding and building civic tech communities during the pandemic. Evan reminisces about the Green Bay Packers’ season coming up just short, while Ajay dives deep as to how his journey to government began with a double doink, immense jet lag, and an entire flight of Philadelphia Eagles fans after his beloved Chicago Bears lost to the Eagles in the 2019 NFL Playoffs.

In our premiere episode, Ajay and Evan talk with Yong Li Dich about her journey in computer science, her shared experiences with Ajay working at a social network, and how she ended up working in civic tech.