Join us for a conversation with author Jennifer Pahlka on her book Recoding America discussing the decline in government capacity over the past 50 years, and the challenges and opportunities in building that capacity back. She'll be in conversation with Nabiha Syed, chief executive officer of The Markup. Pahlka makes a compelling case that without this capacity, we can't achieve any of our policy goals.
Many US adults today grew up watching Schoolhouse Rock, and particularly the happy little bill that makes its way to Capitol Hill to wend its way through the legislative process. When it finally gets signed by the President and becomes a law, everyone cheers. But what comes next? Today, too often the answer is "not much" or "not at all what we intended." The gap between the intentions of the laws and policies we pass and the outcomes we get occurs during work we rarely hear much about: implementation.
And yet change is afoot if we're willing to listen. Empowered public servants are showing how to make government services that "makes sense to a person," and get the outcomes the public wants. Come discuss why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.
Jennifer Pahlka founded Code for America in 2010 and led the organization for ten years. In 2013, she took a leave of absence to serve as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama and helped found the United States Digital Service. She served on the Defense Innovation Board under Presidents Obama and Trump. At the start of the pandemic, she also co-founded United States Digital Response, which helps the government meet the needs of the public with volunteer tech support. She has 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. Jennifer is a graduate of Yale University and lives in California with her husband, Tim O’Reilly.
Nabiha Syed is the chief executive officer of The Markup. She oversees The Markup’s strategy, growth plans and business operations. Nabiha also oversees legal, communications, personnel and other operational matters. Before joining The Markup, Nabiha was vice president and associate general counsel at BuzzFeed, where she counseled on newsgathering, libel, and privacy matters worldwide. Under her leadership, the company successfully defended against libel litigation arising out of the publication of the Steele dossier and initiated numerous notable access litigations. Prior to BuzzFeed, Syed co-founded the nation’s first media access law clinic, currently in its 10th year of operation at Yale Law School, and served as a First Amendment Fellow at The New York Times. Nabiha has been described as “one of the best emerging free speech lawyers” by Forbes magazine, and a “real reporter’s lawyer” by the Reporter’s Committee for the Freedom of the Press, which recognized her with an inaugural award in 2018. She is also a lifelong Girl Scout.
The Ford Foundation is committed to hosting accessible, inclusive events. Would an accessibility accommodation or service be useful to help you fully participate? Please email events@fordfoundation.org.
Click here to sign up for our email list and learn about the latest Ford Foundation events, news, and ideas. If you’re already on our list, we hope you’ll take a moment to update your preferences, so that we can send you invitations and content that reflect your interests.
Your privacy matters to us: please read our privacy policy here. By joining our list you agree to receive emails from the Ford Foundation, and grant us the right to collect and use behavioral cookie and demographic data for our own future marketing purposes. Registering for this event means you agree to receive communications from Ford about this event.
If you have any questions for the event organizers, please email events@fordfoundation.org.
