New Innovation Fellows Arrive In Congress and Aim to Augment Capacity

Two hundred individuals applied, and only four were chosen as the 2017 TechCongress Innovation Fellows. They are:

• Sunmin Kim, a deputy editor for The Economist Intelligence Unit, who specialized in science and technology, innovation and business strategy on topics like the sharing economy, big data in business and artificial intelligence. Sunmin studied engineering and complex systems at Cornell University and the University of Michigan, and patented a method to pattern quantum dots.
• Christopher Soghoian, the Principal Technologist with the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. Chris was named one of Politico’s top “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics” and is also a Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project and a TED Senior Fellow.
• Maurice Turner, a technology enthusiast with a decade of municipal management experience.  His previous employers include the City of Newport Beach, EarthLink Municipal Networks, Center for Democracy and Technology, Coro Foundation, United Medical Center Hospital, the US Department of Transportation and Apple.
• Joel Usher, a technology entrepreneur, former consultant, and US Army war veteran with nearly a decade of experience at the National Security Agency. Joel is the co-founder and CEO of a ridesharing technology company and has an MBA from Oxford.

After a two-week orientation, Innovation Fellows find positions with a Member of Congress or committee and lend their in-depth technical experience to governance. Last year, the very first corps of fellows helpedthe House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and the House Oversight and Government Reform IT Subcommittee.

You may read more about the four new fellows at https://www.techcongress.io/fellows/

TechCongress was founded by Travis Moore, a former staffer for Rep. Henry Waxman. More information on TechCongress is available at https://www.techcongress.io/leadership/