PopVox


POPVOX is a platform that combines legislative data with personal reactions, delivering the users' opinions to governmental officials on policies. Formed in 2010 by Rachna Choudhry and Marci Harris, POPVOX was developed as a civic engagement resource to connect the citizens and the government, with the mission to "empower effective participation, and create a transparent record that influences policy-making and fosters accountable, responsive governing."

History

The two founders of POPVOX, Rachna Choudhry and Marci Harris, met in 2009, bonding over how the governmental system was broken; they realized that they both wanted to make their voices heard by lawmakers. They began to communicate more in an effort to establish a solution to their shared problem, and eventually took their idea to Tim O’Reilly, who became their first angel investor. Afterwards, Choudhry and Harris raised additional funds from family and friends before quitting their jobs. After launching the first version of the platform, they saw just how much people wanted a "transparent advocacy platform" when military families used POPVOX to ask Congress to pass a bill that would continue to provide compensation regardless of a government shutdown.