Some of my recent tech writing

I’m an experienced beat reporter who is curious, a quick study on new technical topics and good at building source relationships in a difficult beat area.

For the past two and a half years I’ve worked as a technology reporter at the federal information technology trade publication FedScoop. There I carved out a niche covering innovation in federal IT — focused both on emerging technologies and the people who are helping government build or buy technology differently.

Read some of my stories below.

Why does blockchain make people so mad?

There’s nothing that unites civic technologists quite like the blockchain.

Among many members of this community, any mention of the use of blockchain technology for government can elicit a negative response — anything from an eye roll to an irate Twitter thread. More than any other emerging technology, perhaps, blockchain is the butt of so many jokes. It’s a poster child for hype, shiny object syndrome and government tech solutionism.

And sure, all hyped emerging technologies experience a backlash at some point. But the response to this one often seems different, more visceral.

So what’s the deal?

Why PIFs stay in government

The Presidential Innovation Fellowship, which was launched as one of President Obama’s signature tech workforce initiatives in 2012, brings technologists from the private sector into government for a one year “tour of duty” in public service.

But around a third of the program’s participants to date have stuck around after the fellowship ended, some rising to executive-level positions within agencies. They stay because they’re empowered, because their skills are in demand, because they’re quietly but strongly patriotic or because a year just isn’t enough time to see the full fruits of one’s labor.

This is the story of some of those fellows.

The Census Bureau wants you to make memes to promote the 2020 count

Ahead of the 2020 census, a division of the U.S. Census Bureau is partnering with creatives in local hard-to-count communities to make marketing materials, artwork and even memes that speak directly to those communities.

You absolutely love to see it.

Previously, I spent two years writing for Technical.ly DC, a local publication covering the DC startup ecosystem. My work has also appeared over at NPR and in The Atlantic. Find my complete resume here.