U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps governments and organizations respond quickly and efficiently to support the critical needs of the public.
Leveraging a network of pro-bono technical expertise and modern, resilient technology, USDR addresses and uncovers solutions for common, systemic challenges that public servants are facing, leaving them better equipped to deliver services and support to millions of people nationwide.
We operate with humility and deep respect for our partners and believe that modern and resilient technology applied in the public interest can deliver people-centered services at the speed of need.
As of May 2021, USDR has partnered with more than 230 government and nonprofit partners on 300+ projects, impacting more than 42 million people across 36 states and territories, and we’ve built a dedicated community of nearly 7,000 pro bono specialists driven to serve in a time of need.
About U.S. Digital Response
U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps governments and organizations respond quickly and efficiently to support the critical needs of the public.
Our vision
In order to meet the needs of the public, we aim to accelerate government’s collective ability to adopt the best that technology has to offer.
Our story
Our values
We work in the public interest
While with USDR, we do not use our efforts to further personal and professional interests. Our Data and Software Guidelines promote openness and accessibility.
We work with humility and respect
Governments and the people they employ operate under constraints that are not always visible to those outside of the public sector. Public servants are often under enormous strain—in order to be effective, we must check our egos and our judgment, without losing our critical thinking.
We observe a code of conduct
We require all staff and pro bono team members to read and sign this Volunteer Oath before joining. We will ask people to step away from projects if they are no longer a good fit for the work or have not acted in a way that is aligned with our mission and values.
Meet the team
Staff
Alex Allain
CTO and Co-Founder
Alex oversees the development of technological tools, automation, and infrastructure at USDR. Alex most recently served as a Director of Engineering at Dropbox.
Amanda Rucker
Marketing and Communications Manager
Amanda helps lead marketing and communications. Amanda recently was at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she developed communication and marketing strategy for the College of Information Science and Technology.
Aylin Oncel
Legal and Development Lead
Aylin oversees legal and development at USDR. Former legal counsel at Stripe, she most recently started and led Stripe’s Social Impact and Community Engagement program.
Emily Barlow
Rapid Response Program Lead and Co-Founder
Emily oversees our Rapid Response portfolio of projects and previously acted as our Operations and Tools Team Lead. Emily was mostly recently at Apple, where she worked as an Engineering Program Manager for next generation display hardware.
Jessica Cole
CEO and Co-Founder
Jessica is the CEO of USDR and previously oversaw partnerships, marketing, and communications. Before, she was a fellow at the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub, and served as Head of Innovation and Economic Development for the City of Walnut Creek
Jessica Watson
Chief Experience Officer and Co-Founder
Jessica leads the people power of USDR from volunteer staffing and support to HR and also supports our Economic Stability Program. Jessica is a product design leader who was most recently a Director of Product Design at Facebook.
Kristen Eberlin
Volunteers Team Lead
Kristen oversees & fosters the volunteer experience at USDR. Kristen is a product & operations leader that most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer for Setmore.
Lindsey Wilson
Elections Program Co-Lead
Lindsey co-leads the portfolio of USDR projects supporting Elections. An experienced technologist, Lindsey most recently served as Executive Director and Co-Founder at Unloop, a non-profit social enterprise and software development agency.
Mindy Huang
Product Manager, Economic Stability
Mindy leads product management for our Federal Funding Tools under the Economic Stability Program. Previously, she worked at Google as a product manager, engineer, and internal founder. Her mission is to leverage technology for the good of humanity.
Pari Sabety
Economic Stability Program Advisor
Pari ensures that USDR’s work on Federal grants reporting is aligned with our partners’ needs. Pari has over 25 years experience as a CFO in government and higher education, and serving as a cabinet member and senior executive staff to two governors.
Priya Garg
Elections Program Co-Lead
Priya co-leads USDR’s Elections Program, which is building a digital infrastructure for American elections. An experienced technologist and product manager, she most recently developed innovative shopping experiences at Amazon.
Raphael Lee
Economic Stability Design Lead and Co-Founder
Raph is a product designer and researcher at USDR. Previously, he managed partner projects and started the Health Program. Raph has led product engineering, data science, infrastructure, IT, and security teams at Lob and Airbnb.
Rebecca Heywood
Governments Team Lead
Rebecca currently leads the Governments Team. She was most recently the Director of Performance and Process Improvement at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and previously served in several roles with the City of New York.
Rob Brackett
Engineer
Rob is an engineer on our Tools team and was formerly the Engineering Lead for our Health Data Program. He’s an experienced civic technologist who recently worked with the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative.
Ruben Espejel
Fundraising and Development Manager
Ruben manages an existing pipeline of donors and finds new philanthropic funding opportunities among individuals and foundations. He most recently managed the major gifts donor stewardship program at PIH Health.
Tina Walha
Director of Public Digital
Tina oversees efforts to grow USDR’s impact with government and nonprofit partners. Tina most recently served as Director of Innovation & Performance for the City of Seattle and previously worked as a policy advisor for NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Technologists-in-Residence
Marcie Chin
Product Manager-in-Residence
Marcie is a Program Lead and veteran product manager who believes in leveraging equity-centered design, ethical technology, and strategic foresight to serve the public interest.
Max Kramer
Product Manager, Rapid Response Program
Max serves as the product manager for our Rapid Response program. Prior to joining USDR, he helped lead the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank’s COVID-19 response efforts. He's also worked at Atlassian, Trello, and Fog Creek Software.
Robert Martin
Engineer-in-Residence
Robert is USDR’s Engineer-in-residence for the Rapid Response program. He brings 10 years of experience in the public sector, and was previously a Senior Software Engineer at the City of Philadelphia where he worked on civic data tools.
Sunita Ram
Designer, Rapid Response Program
Sunita is a user experience designer working in our Rapid Response Program. Previously, she led hybrid teams through digital design in the fields of education, technology, e-commerce, and healthcare.
Alumni
Alyssa Levitz
Technologist-in-Residence
Alyssa is a product manager and was formerly USDR's Technologist-in-Residence for Unemployment Insurance.
Christina Roberts
Engineering Lead
Christina serves as our Engineering Lead, contributing to USDR’s internal product portfolio and building tools for USDR’s initiatives. Christina was previously an Engineering Manager at Oracle.
Diana Wang
Former Health Data Technologist-in-Residence
Diana was the Product Manager for USDR’s Health Data Program. Previously, Diana focused on policy impact evaluation, data products, and personalization at Airbnb.
Elham Ali
Former Health Technologist-In-Residence
Elham was the design and research lead for USDR’s Health Data program, with 9+ years of experience in mixed-methods research and UX design. Elham worked in HIV informatics and substance use disorder with New York State and ICAP at Columbia.
Jan Overgoor
Former Health Technologist-in-Residence
Jan was the Data Lead for the Health program. He recently obtained his PhD in computational social science from Stanford University, and before that he was a data scientist at Airbnb.
Janette Fong
Co-Founder
Janette co-founded US Digital Response and led the Projects Team. She was previously a Product Manager at Lyft and Director of Product at LendUp.
Jessica MacLeod
Co-Founder
Jessica is the Director of Digital Services and Open Development at the City of San Rafael. Formerly, she was the head of Customer Success at Socrata a Policy Analyst at the Center for Global Development.
Jessie Posilkin
Economic Stability Program Lead
Jessie oversaw the portfolio of USDR projects supporting economic stability, including Unemployment Insurance and rent relief. Jessie was most recently a Program Manager at Nava, where she led the team implementing a new social benefit for a state.
Raylene Yung
Former CEO and Co-Founder
Raylene founded USDR in March 2020 and served as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. She currently directs the Tech Modernization Fund at the General Services Administration.
Advisors
Cori Zarek
Advisor
Cori Zarek is the Executive Director at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and previously served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer. She also co-founded USDR in March 2020.
Jennifer Pahlka
Advisor
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. She co-founded USDR in March 2020.
Ryan Panchadsaram
Advisor
Ryan Panchadsaram joined Kleiner Perkins in 2016 and was the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer. He also co-founded USDR in March 2020.
Looking for a career in civic tech?
U.S. Digital Response is hiring professionals to help identify gaps and challenges with our partners, understand the needs of communities and constituents, and find, build or develop tools needed to deliver critical services to the people who need them.
Our organization has doubled in the last year in response to the need, and we are on track for similar growth in 2022. Every USDR community member shapes our work and our culture. We are looking for team members who will join the early conversations about how our organization can continue to do the most good at the greatest scale.
Our organization has doubled in the last year in response to the need, and we are on track for similar growth in 2022. Every USDR community member shapes our work and our culture. We are looking for team members who will join the early conversations about how our organization can continue to do the most good at the greatest scale.