Aspen Tech Policy Hub Announces Third Fellowship Cohort

Fifteen technologists learned to impact policymaking in the third iteration of the Hub’s Fellowship program

Contact:
Betsy Cooper
Director
Aspen Tech Policy Hub
Betsy.Cooper@aspeninstitute.org

San Francisco, California, December 13, 2021 

— The Aspen Tech Policy Hub is thrilled to announce the Fall 2021 cohort of its Fellowship. These fifteen experts bring a wealth of technology experience into the policy field and include start-up founders, software engineers, product leaders, cybersecurity experts, and more.

The Fall 2021 Fellows are:

  • Alija Blackwell, Data Analyst at Edgility Consulting
  • Angelina Dayton, Senior Virtual Reality Research Scientist for the Virtual World Society
  • Arman Jaffer, Product Manager at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
  • Christine Keung, Chief Data Officer for the City of San Jose
  • Daniel Bardenstein, Product Manager at the Defense Digital Service
  • Dillon Cruz, Senior Software Engineer at Sidewalk Labs
  • Hilary Braseth, Associate Director of Product at Huge Inc.
  • James Liu, Product Lead for US Digital Service
  • Lodrina Cherne, Principal Security Advocate at Cybereason; Digital Forensics Instructor at the SANS Institute
  • Lucy He, Former Software Engineer at Flatiron Health
  • Matthew Zhou, Senior Data Engineer at Peloton
  • Micah Mutrux, Organizing and Research Manager for Code for America; Volunteer Team Lead for US Digital Response
  • Michael Rain, Founder of ENODI
  • Sage Salvo, Founder and CEO of Words Liive; Founder & President of Opus World
  • Trevor Pels, Former Product Manager at Lyft

The Fall 2021 program ran full-time from September to November, and included one in-person week in the Bay Area. After spending several weeks immersed in a bootcamp learning the basics about government, policy and advocacy, the Fellows spent the rest of their time pitching projects, crafting solutions, and creating outputs. Their final projects focus on solving critical tech policy issues like the spread of misinformation on WhatsApp, pay inequities at Big Tech companies, and racial bias in health tech tools.Their projects will be showcased in to-be-announced Demo Days in early 2022.

For more information about our full-time Fellowship program, visit our website.

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The Aspen Tech Policy Hub

 is a West Coast policy incubator, training a new generation of tech policy entrepreneurs. The Hub takes tech experts, teaches them the policy process through fellowship programs, and encourages them to develop outside-the-box solutions to society’s problems. The Hub is part of the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Digital program, which empowers policy-makers, civic organizations, companies, and the public to be responsible stewards of technology and media in the service of an informed, just, and equitable world. For more information, please visit: https://www.aspentechpolicyhub.org.

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