If you’ve ever visited iCode, you’ve probably wandered into our labs and seen the titles given to each one of them. Gates Lab, Zuckerberg Lab, and Pahlka lab. Wait, the Pahlka lab? Who is she? We all know who Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are, but who is Jennifer Pahlka?
Jennifer Pahlka, and I am quoting the Huffington Post, is “a game changer”. Regarded as the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Code for America, she has sought to create revolution in the relationship between government and technology. As a non-profit organization, Code for America has inspired innovation and creativity through the form of civic hacking, in which hundreds of individuals contribute to improving the quality of their local governments and regions through the use of technology and partnership with the regional government.
Jennifer came up with this idea in 2009, and has worked to not only improve the quality and ability of government through technology, but also that individuals increase their involvement with their local government so that everyone can benefit. She has pursued a field in which improvement and benefit are the only fruits, and she has opened the gate for various other individuals and companies to pursue such endeavors.
We honor her and her achievements at iCode, because even though she might not be as recognized as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, she shares the same ideology of using technology to benefit humanity.
Farhan Ali
iCode Mentor