Coding it Forward is an American 501c3 non-profit organization with the goal of building a talent pipeline into civic tech, primarily through creating and marketing data science and technology internships in federal government agencies for undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities across the United States.
History
Several Harvard University students were inspired by former Chief Technology Officer of the United States Megan Smith's appeal for technologists to work in public service at the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. They started a blog highlighting how students were contributing to civic tech, which grew to 800 members within two months. Two of the students took a course with the former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States Nick Sinai where they had the opportunity to work on tech projects in government. That experience led to the idea of organizing tech-focused student internships in government.2
Civic Digital Fellowship
The primary program of Coding it Forward is their Civic Digital Fellowship, a competitive 10-week data science and technology internship program for undergraduate and graduate students in United States federal agencies. They have received more than 1,100 applications from students from more than 175 colleges and universities for 50 fellowship positions.3 Among six federal agencies, the 50 students learn by working on group projects to improve their departments and how they work. The fellows receive a paycheck, which is unlike many other internship programs in the government.4
Growth
| Year | Fellows | Applications | Agencies | Agency Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 14 | 226 | 1 | U.S. Census Bureau5 |
| 2018 | 36 | ≈9006 | 6 | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade Administration and General Services Administration7 |
| 2019 | 55 | ≈1,000 | 6 | U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, General Services Administration, National Institutes of Health8 |
Recognition
Co-founders Athena Kan and Chris Kuang gave the closing keynote at the 2018 Code for America Summit in Oakland, CA, in front of an audience of 1,200 civic technologists (Video of Keynote).9
Funders
The organization has received support from philanthropic sources such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,10 the Knight Foundation, and the Shuttleworth Foundation.11
References
Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha (19 December 2017). "The Civic Digital Fellowship is coming back much bigger than before". fedscoop. Retrieved 30 August 2018. https://www.fedscoop.com/civic-digital-fellowship-coming-back-much-bigger/ ↩
Kelman, Steve. "Students recruiting students into federal tech". FCW. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180830073839/https://fcw.com/blogs/lectern/2018/03/kelman-coding-it-forward.aspx ↩
Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha (1 August 2017). "Demand for the first edition of Coding it Forward's Civic Digital Fellowship surprises even the founders". fedscoop. Retrieved 29 August 2018. https://www.fedscoop.com/civic-digital-fellowship-talent-first-year/ ↩
Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha (2019-06-03). "Coding it Forward brings 55 tech-savvy students to D.C." www.fedscoop.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2019-09-25. https://www.fedscoop.com/coding-it-forward-third-summer/ ↩
Cabrera, Marquis (12 July 2017). "Harvard Students Partner With U.S. Government to Address Digital Skills Gaps". Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 August 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harvard-students-partner-with-us-government-to-address_us_59658fc6e4b09be68c005645 ↩
Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha (3 July 2018). "Here's what year two of Coding it Forward's Civic Digital Fellowship looks like". fedscoop. Retrieved 30 August 2018. https://www.fedscoop.com/civic-digital-fellowship-2018-coding-it-forward/ ↩
Gunter, Chase (10 August 2018). "Civic Digital Fellows showcase a second year's work in Washington". FCW. Retrieved 29 August 2018. https://fcw.com/articles/2018/08/10/civic-digital-fellowship-demo-gunter.aspx ↩
Dodell, Rachel (2019-06-03). "Introducing the 2019 Civic Digital Fellows". Coding it Forward. Retrieved 2019-06-25. https://blog.codingitforward.com/introducing-the-2019-civic-digital-fellows-41469f28561d ↩
"2018 Summit Agenda". Code for America. Retrieved 30 August 2018. https://www.cvent.com/events/code-for-america-summit-2018/custom-38-e12d85b157b94d69b80d8911cc641d36.aspx ↩
"Coding it Forward builds civic tech talent pipeline, with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative". Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018. https://www.chanzuckerberg.com/newsroom/coding-it-forward-builds-civic-tech-talent-pipeline-with-support-from-the-chan-zuckerberg-initiative ↩
"Homepage". Coding it Forward. Retrieved 30 August 2018. https://www.codingitforward.com/ ↩