Coding it Forward


Coding it Forward is an American 501c3 non-profit organization building a talent pipeline into civic tech, primarily through creating and marketing data science and technology internships in United States 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 quickly 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.

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. To date, they have received more than 1,100 applications from students from more than 175 colleges and universities for 50 fellowship positions. Spread out among 6 different federal agencies, the 50 students learn all things business by working on group projects to enhance their respective department and the way in which it works. As a result from this hard work, the fellows receive a paycheck which is unlike many other internship programs in the government.

Growth

YearFellowsApplicationsAgenciesAgency Names
2017142261U.S. Census Bureau
201836≈9006U.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 Administration
201955≈1,0006U.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 Health

Recognition

Co-founders Athena Kan and Chris Kuang were selected to give the closing keynote at the 2018 Code for America Summit in Oakland, CA, in front of an audience of 1,200 civic technologists.

Funders

The organization has attracted support from philanthropic sources such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Knight Foundation, and the Shuttleworth Foundation.