Jennifer Anastasoff

Jennifer was a founding member of U.S. Digital Service at the White House and served as Head of People from 2014 until 2017, increasing the team from three to over 200 and created a diverse, cross-functional pipeline of digital talent from around America into our federal government. She focuses on bringing together talent, innovation, and social change and loves building awesome teams.

She served as founding CEO of Fuse Corps and prior to starting Fuse Corps, Jennifer founded a few social enterprises focused on bringing technical and operational skills to the public sector, served as a consultant on the Higher Education Committee of the California State Assembly, and was a proud 6th grade teacher.

John Bailey

John serves as an advisor to the Walton Family Foundation and is a visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.  He previously served in the White House where he led the reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program and coordinated the emergency programs established during the 2008 credit crisis to stabilize $200 billion of student loans.  He also served as the Deputy Policy Director to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Director of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.  In 2009 he co-founded the strategic advisory firm Whiteboard Advisors working with investors, entrepreneurs, and philanthropies.  John also worked with Governor Tom Ridge in a CIO function for a $7 billion agency and supported economic development policies along with several trade missions.

John is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leadership Network and an alumnus of the American Council on Germany Young Leaders Program. He serves on advisory boards for the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work, the George W. Bush Institute, TechStars, and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Alex Gibbs

Alexandra is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and brings with her 8 years of military service and operations management. As a Signal Officer in the Army National Guard, she wholeheartedly recognizes the importance of tech in government, working directly with our military’s communication systems, data systems, and technology leadership.

On the civilian side, she comes from a Silicon Valley biotech startup where she managed the internal recruiting department and assisted with operations. Alexandra is also pursuing her MA in Clinical and Mental Health Counseling, a field which she believes marries recruiting and people relations effortlessly.

Georgia Gleason

Georgia joined the Tech Talent Project in January of 2021 and is thrilled to be a part of the team. She previously supervised front of house staff at the Soho House, a members club in Downtown Los Angeles. As part of the opening team, she contributed to critical and foundational community building among members as well as staff. A trained performer and connector at heart, Georgia has also worn many hats as a singer-songwriter, touring musician, band manager, and concert promoter in Montreal, Quebec. She graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural and Film Studies.

Christan Johnson

Christan Johnson is an experienced talent architect who has developed blueprints for recruiting accomplished technical talent within the federal government and private sector. She has led team growth and development, keeping diversity and inclusiveness at the forefront. Prior to leveraging her knowledge and experience in the private sector, she served as a Digital Service Expert at the Department of Defense, recruiting and hiring a massive amount of executive technical talent. Christan joined the Tech Talent Project in May of 2023 as the Director of State Partnerships.

Garrett Johnson

Garrett Johnson is a co-founder and executive director of the Lincoln Network. He also co-founded SendHub.com, a venture-backed-YCombinator startup launched in 2011. He served as professional staff to the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where oversight portfolio included Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Haiti.

Originally from Florida, Garrett earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. He also read for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford, England as a Rhodes Scholar. Garrett currently lives in San Jose, CA.

Tom Kalil

Tom Kalil is Chief Innovation Officer at Schmidt Futures. In this role, Tom leads initiatives to harness technology for societal challenges, improve science policy, and identify and pursue 21st century moonshots. 

Prior to Schmidt Futures, Tom served in the White House for two Presidents (Obama and Clinton), helping to design and launch national science and technology initiatives in areas such as nanotechnology, the BRAIN initiative, data science, materials by design, robotics, commercial space, high-speed networks, access to capital for startups, high-skill immigration, STEM education, learning technology, startup ecosystems, and the federal use of incentive prizes.

Terah Lyons

Terah Lyons was the first Executive Director of the global nonprofit Partnership on AI and led emerging technology policy for President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is known for her expertise in the field of artificial intelligence and emerging technology governance and policy.

Terah has focused her career on building capacity in the public and private sectors for more effective AI development and governance.

In the Obama Administration, she served as Policy Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where she led policy on AI and intelligent transportation systems, and advised on issues related to the innovation economy, national security, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the technology industry. While there, she co-directed the White House’s Future of Artificial Intelligence Initiative, which facilitated stakeholders in the public and private domains to frame the first domestic policy strategy on machine intelligence.

Cass Madison

Cass is an experienced public servant whose expertise sits at the intersection of technology, operations, and policy. She has spent the past 15 years helping to ensure that big ideas get implemented in a way that drives innovation, improves the lives of those accessing services, and builds a positive culture in the workplace.

Most recently, Cass served as an appointee of Vermont Governor Phil Scott. As Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) she focused on strengthening operational performance and improving success in the delivery of large scale information technology (IT) projects.

Josh Marcuse

Josh Marcuse is the head of strategy and Innovation for Global Public Sector at Google Cloud. He leads a team of public sector digital transformation experts who work to solve real-world problems in public health, smart cities, cyber defense, and more for governments around the world. Previously, Josh served as executive director of the Defense Innovation Board, a group of distinguished leaders focused on bringing technological and cultural innovations of Silicon Valley to the Department of Defense (DoD). Josh served as the innovation advisor to the DoD CTO and also held roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) for Policy, Personnel & Readiness, and the Chief Management Officer. Prior to DoD, Josh worked at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Josh is active in several nonprofit organizations outside of Google, including serving as an advisor or board member to Schmidt Futures, Tech Talent Project, Silicon Valley Defense Group, Globally, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, and the Federal Innovator Network at the Partnership for Public Service. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the Truman National Security Project.

Carolyn McCalvin

Carolyn McCalvin is a native of the District of Columbia. Spending 14 years with the federal government, Carolyn obtained a composite of technical, analytical, administrative, and management experience supporting the Navy Yard and Pentagon. Carolyn also brings a wealth of professionalism from the private sector with over ten years of corporate experience. She is a certified facilitator and business process improvement specialist and most recently worked in the finance industry.

Grace McKinney

Grace is a well-rounded talent professional with a passion for building highly skilled diverse teams and a knack for designing and implementing hiring processes from the ground up. As an advocate for equitable workplaces, Grace brings a strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) background to the Tech Talent Project with a particular focus on effective ways to recruit talented individuals with a private background into the civic tech community.

Most recently, she was the Head of Talent at CivicActions, a firm that strives to transform the way governments procure, develop, and deliver digital services. Prior to that, she served as the Lead of Talent Operations at the US Digital Service, ensuring that their key projects received the right candidates and building a cohort of passionate civil servants.

Brittany Norris

Brittany is a dedicated professional with a strong passion for operations and a service-oriented mindset. She brings over 7 years of experience across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Brittany’s career kicked off as an Economic Development Volunteer in the Peace Corps (Dominican Republic). During her time there, she successfully implemented a public health initiative and provided valuable business consulting for a local honey co-op. Upon returning to the US in 2019, Brittany transitioned into the role of a non-profit operations lead where she developed her skills in managing grants, budgets, financials, and risk management for a non profit portfolio exceeding $70M. In September 2022, Brittany joined the Tech Talent Project as Chief of Staff, capitalizing on her expertise in nonprofit management. In this role, she works closely with the Executive Director, contributing to various fundraising, operational, and staffing initiatives.

Jennifer Pahlka

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder and former executive director of Code for America. She served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2013–2014, where she founded the United States Digital Service. 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 serves on the Defense Innovation Board and the board of the Tech Talent Project. She holds fellowships with Ashoka, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the Volcker Alliance. Jennifer is a graduate of Yale University and lives in Oakland, California with her daughter, husband, and six chickens.

Ryan Panchadsaram

Ryan Panchadsaram joined Kleiner Perkins in 2016 and was previously the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer. He is also a Co-Founder of the United States Digital Response.

Todd Park

Todd Park is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Devoted Health. Prior to Devoted Health, Todd served as White House Technology Advisor based in Silicon Valley until January 2017, a role in which he focused on bringing top technology talent and best practices into government to improve service delivery, national defense, public engagement, and more. Prior to this role, Todd served from March 2012 to August 2014 as U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From August 2009 to March 2012, Todd served as Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For his work at HHS, Todd was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” in 2010.

Dan Portillo

Dan is Managing Partner and Co founder at Sweat Equity Ventures. Prior to SEV, Dan spent 7 years as an Operating Partner at Greylock. His work led to 17 venture investments. He also helped to scale dozens of portfolio companies. Prior to Greylock he held executive roles at Rypple (acquired by Salesforce in 2012) and Mozilla. He advises a number of companies and helped create the talent organization for US Digital Service. Earlier in his career Dan spent a decade building out successful early-stage, venture-backed consumer and enterprise companies.

Angie Quirarte

Angie has led and supported complex statewide initiatives for the State of California including managing the Civil Service Improvement Initiative, establishing the open data program and implementing policies around open source, web standards, and web accessibility. She was part of the DMV strike team and led the “Alpha” team which developed a new approach to building teams that deliver and focus on impact at scale.

Most recently, Angie served as an appointee of Governor Gavin Newsom as Deputy Director of the Office of Digital Innovation which she helped establish in 2019. She supported COVID19 digital response in partnership with the Governor’s Office, Department of Public Health, Department of Technology and others. Angie focuses on bridging effective collaborations with public servants and government leaders in order to deliver digital products and services. Angie is also the founder of NxtGov. 

Michael Roach

Michael joined the Tech Talent Project in September 2021. Beforehand, he worked as a patient services manager at a healthcare startup, Blink Health, spearheading efforts to harness patient interaction data to more efficiently deliver prescription drug discounts to uninsured Americans. He also worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative intern for Congressman Adriano Espaillat. There he conducted research and drafted reports on various issues, especially U.S. foreign affairs in East Africa, the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific, as well as the critical immigration crisis in 2018 concerning the Trump Administration’s border separation policy.

He is a graduate from New York University where he obtained a Master’s in Political Science, concentrating in American political parties and the effects of populism on global democratic institutions.

Jai Rodgers

Jai Rodgers is a proud alumna of Howard University and has launched her career with a passion for client relations and operations. She has experience in many different industries, but enjoys working with mission based organizations. She is passionate about community building programs that expand the reach and vision of organizations. Her introduction to the importance of thoughtful recruiting was from working with tech start-ups on their pipelines and DEI initiatives. Jai joined the Tech Talent Project in January of 2023 as a Partnership Associate.

Max Stier

As the founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, Max has overseen the creation and growth of a network connecting more than 1,000 colleges and universities with 80 federal agencies; a center focusing on the presidential transition; an awards program that recognizes exceptional civil servants for their extraordinary accomplishments; annual rankings that examine employee engagement; numerous leadership development programs; and more.

Before coming to the Partnership he worked in each of the three branches of the federal government. Max’s favorite fed is Teddy Roosevelt who, along with his many other accomplishments, is the father of the civil service.

Rachel Williams

Rachel Williams is a Bay Area native with more than 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley. Her experience spans human resources – recruiting, strategic employee relations and engagement, organizational change, culture & learning development, inclusion programming and implementation. Rachel is currently the Head of Equity Inclusion & Diversity Talent Acquisition for X – the moonshot factory. X creates novel technology solutions to address the world’s most challenging problems.

In addition to her roles within various corporations, Rachel lends her time to advise organizations dedicated to the improvement of diversity, equity and inclusion. Rachel has spoken on her work and thought leadership at numerous conferences and universities and graduated from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!).

Lindsay Willman

Lindsay joined the Tech Talent Project in December of 2018. Prior to that, she ran operations and recruiting coordination at a Bay Area recruiting firm, Pac Heights Partners. However, Lindsay also has an extensive background as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, working mostly in Health and Human Services programs and at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She has seen first hand how technology affects human lives, which is the reason she is passionate about the Tech Talent mission. She continues to work part-time as a social worker with older adults and people with disabilities at an Adult Day Health Center in Half Moon Bay.

Nicole Wong

Nicole Wong specializes in assisting high-growth technology companies to develop international privacy, content, and regulatory strategies. She previously served as Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration, focused on internet, privacy, and innovation policy. Prior to her time in government, Nicole was Google’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, and Twitter’s Legal Director for Products. She frequently speaks on issues related to law and technology, including five appearances before the U.S. Congress. Nicole chairs the board of Friends of Global Voices, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting citizen and online media projects globally. She also sits on the boards of the Filecoin Foundation, an independent organization that stewards the growth of Filecoin and related technologies for a decentralized web; the Mozilla Foundation, which promotes the open internet; and The Markup, a non-profit investigative news organization covering technology. She currently serves as co-chair of the Digital Freedom Forum, and as an an advisor to the AI Now Institute, the Albright Stonebridge Group, the Alliance for Securing Democracy, Luminate, Refactor Capital, and WITNESS.