Jennifer Pahlka, Code for America’s founder, will discuss what it would really mean to recode American government. She’ll address these themes from her book, Recoding America:
- how the US government went from being a digital pioneer to a digital laggard in many places
- how the federal government and governments beyond are now rebuilding their digital muscle
- why governments need digital, design, and data capabilities in-house and cannot simply outsource these skills
Join us for a candid Q&A with Jennifer led by Mitchell Weiss, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School.
Jennifer Pahlka is the author of Recoding America, and a pioneer in making government work for people in the digital age. She is the founder and former executive director of Code for America and served as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama from 2013–2014, where she founded the United States Digital Service. She also co-founded United States Digital Response, which helps government respond to the Covid-19 crisis with volunteer tech support. She received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and was named by Wired as one of the 25 people who has most shaped the past 25 years. She served on the Defense Innovation Board under Presidents Obama and Trump. Jennifer is a graduate of Yale University and lives in Oakland, California.
This event is open to everyone.