Former Obama techies join forces at think tank
New America's inaugural class of Public Interest Technology Fellows includes some familiar names from the Obama administration.
Former VA digital service lead Marina Stone Martin is one of the inaugural class of public service tech fellows at New America.
The inaugural class of Public Interest Technology Fellows at New America includes some familiar names from the Obama administration.
Cecilia Muñoz, vice president for policy and technology at the Washington-based think tank and the former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, is leading the effort. Vivian Graubard, who was a founding member of the U.S. Digital Service and an adviser to former federal CTO Todd Park, is serving as director of strategy.
New America President and CEO Anne Marie-Slaughter has big ambitions for the program. "The Public Interest Tech Team is looking to build an ecosystem for the field of public interest technology, much in the same way that the country created the field of public interest law a generation ago," she said.
Among the fellows are several former agency digital service leads, including Marina Stone Martin, who worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs; Hana Schank, who served at the Department of Homeland Security; and Raphael Majman, formerly of the Department of State.
Other fellows with federal links include Alan Davidson, former director of digital economy at the Department of Commerce, former USDS product designer Andrew Lovett-Barron and former Healthcare.gov software engineer Lindsay Tyson.
Each of the fellows is focused on a specific project or focused inquiry for their year-long term.