Announcing the winners of the 2022 FedScoop 50. FedScoop. November 2022.

Innovation of the Year: The U.S. Digital Corps is an innovative new program bringing the next generation of federal tech and IT leaders into government, and is led by Chris Kuang, Caitlin Gandhi, and Masha Danilova, and housed at the General Services Administration. Launched in 2021, the program received over 1,000 applications from recent graduates across the country in just one week and just recently hired its first cohort of 40 fellows, who are majority women. The federal tech workforce has fewer than 5% of its employees under 30 — the Digital Corps fills this critical gap in the talent pipeline with the potential to scale. Link

Preparing to Welcome the 2022 U.S. Digital Corps. The White House. June 2022.

“These Fellows will play a key role in delivering for the American people — and also reflect the diversity of our country. By reaching out to communities that are traditionally underrepresented in civic tech, we received applications from 47 states and territories and recruited a cohort that represents the people they will serve … Creating new ways to bring technology talent into the Federal Government is crucial to our efforts to protect, serve, and inspire the American people in today’s digital age. Link

U.S. Digital Corps essential for our human-centered, tech-enabled future. The Hill (opinion). September 2021

“The Biden administration’s recent announcement of a new U.S. Digital Corps, a two-year fellowship that creates pathways for talented young technologists to develop careers in public service, is a welcome workforce innovation built on a long American tradition of public service. The ambition for the program as it launches is to meet today’s critical needs, and we hope the program will expand to match the full potential that technology offers for the greater good.” —Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. Link

Biden launches U.S. Digital Corps to bring young tech talent to government. Fast Company. August 2021

“The Corps offers early-career technologists a chance to get engaged in government via a two-year fellowship focused on major Biden administration priorities, including coronavirus response, economic recovery, cybersecurity, and streamlining government services.” Link

The U.S. Just Launched A ‘Digital Corps’ To Attract More Young People Into Government Tech. Forbes. August 2021

“By branding its fellowship program a “Digital Corps,” which has echoes of historic, mission-driven initiatives such as President John F. Kennedy’s Peace Corps, the Biden Administration is clearly hoping those who sign up for it will see it as the beginning of a long-term career to use technology to change government for the better.” Link

Biden Administration Launches U.S. Digital Corps to Recruit the Next Generation of Technology Talent to Federal Service. General Services Administration. August 2021

“WASHINGTON — Today, the Biden Administration, in a collaboration between the General Services Administration, the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, announced the U.S. Digital Corps, a new two-year fellowship that will recruit early-career technologists to contribute to high-impact efforts across the federal government. This program will work to advance the Administration priorities of coronavirus response, economic recovery, cybersecurity, and streamlining government services.” Link

Experts want a Biden fellowship targeting young technologists, FedScoop, December 2020

“Technology experts want the incoming Biden administration to create a two-year fellowship letting early-career talent work at federal agencies. The so-called Digital Corps would improve agencies’ IT service delivery, including pandemic-related services while offering fellows senior leader mentors, skills development and substantial federal loan forgiveness.” Link

A virtual celebration of innovation at Harvard, The Harvard Gazette, May 2020

“This year’s grand-prize winners, each receiving $75,000, are … Coding it Forward for empowering the next generation of technology leaders to create social change.” Link

Coding it Forward fellowship program gets enthusiastic feedback, FCW, November 2019

“Fellows were asked both before and after their internships how interested they were in working after graduation in various kinds of jobs. Before the summer, only 6% ranked working for the federal government at a 5. By summer's end, the percentage had shot up to 27%. (The percentage indicating strong local government interest rose from 4% to 21%.)” Link

New report urges Congress to close its growing tech gap, The Harvard Gazette, September 2019

“The report finds that Congress “has simply not given itself the resources needed to efficiently and effectively absorb new information — particularly on complex S&T issues. Legislative support agencies and committees have been allowed to wither, reducing policy expertise on S&T issues and institutional knowledge about policymaking and how to be effective in Congress.” Link

Civic Digital Fellows exchange tech skills for lessons in government bureaucracy, Federal News Network, August 2019

“But for many of the fellows, the most profound lessons were only ones they could learn in government, directly working with products and services that millions of Americans use every day.” Link

Coding it Forward brings 55 tech-savvy students to D.C., FedScoop, June 2019

“For agencies, participating in the program is a way to get access to the kind of your tech talent that the government so often misses out on. “That’s really what we’re passionate about, building that talent pipeline,” program co-founder Chris Kuang told FedScoop. For students, meanwhile, being a Civic Digital Fellow is an opportunity to spend a summer doing high-impact work.

“We’re really trying to make working in D.C. and working in civic tech cool for students,” Kuang said.” Link

Presidential Public Service Fellowship has broad reach, The Harvard Gazette, November 2018

“For Kuang, the chance to help others discover and pursue positions in government agencies and departments made the most meaningful impact. “I think it all comes back to recognizing the immense opportunities and privilege that we have to be at an institution like Harvard that values public service and gives its students the occasion to pursue it,” he noted. “For me, it was not just how do I take advantage of those opportunities, but how can I hopefully use them to empower the journeys of so many other students and inspire them to serve as well.” Link

BostInno’s 25 Under 25, BostInno, September 2018

“Chris Kuang is a technologist set on finding a purpose beyond the next big food-delivery application. In 2017, the Harvard student teamed up with peers to launch Coding it Forward, a non-profit that seeks to empower computer science, data science, and design students to find careers that serve the public good. Shortly after, the group launched the Civic Digital Fellowship, a summer program for technology students who want to work with federal agencies.” Link

Coding it Forward builds civic tech talent pipeline, with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, July 2018

“Government services, like food assistance, health care, and legal aid, help millions of people lead healthy, productive lives. What can we do to make accessing these services easier and more user-friendly?

Coding it Forward is dedicated to answering that question, and this summer, we helped support their fellowship program. Coding It Forward’s mission is to empower the next generation of digital leaders to effect social change. They bring students from around the country, like Loren Hinkson, to Washington, D.C., to develop technology products that help make government services work better for people.” Link

Here’s what year two of Coding it Forward’s Civic Digital Fellowship looks like, FedScoop, July 2018

“The Coding it Forward founders are lucky to have these relationships, and they know it. Kuang, who took part in his own fellowship during the inaugural cohort last summer, says building the program wasn’t about creating something for himself. “So many of my peers were looking for [this],” Kuang said. “I had the crack of an open door that we were able to run through. [Now] we’re thinking about how we as Coding it Forward can keep that door open for other people and keep pulling more and more students in.” Link

Coding it Forward fellows take on federal tech & data challenges, Government Matters, July 2018

“Chris Kuang, Co-Founder of Coding It Forward, says that the fellowship is a good experience for young professionals in government … “We really didn’t find any opportunities and on-ramps. We tried looking on USAJobs, and the only thing we could find for tech students was installing Microsoft Sharepoint. We felt we could do a little better than that.” Link