TechCongress Grows Into Independent Organization

WASHINGTON, DC — TechCongress, a nonpartisan program that places technologists in Congressional offices to support technology policymaking, today announced it is establishing itself as an independent entity, the TechCongress Foundation. Created in 2015 by Travis Moore and incubated in New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI), TechCongress has placed 55 fellows in dozens of Republican and Democratic offices on Capitol Hill.

Moore founded TechCongress in 2015, immediately after finishing his career as a Hill staffer, because of his experience struggling to find tech expertise in Congress as Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) Legislative Director. While serving in Congress, he was increasingly confronting complex technical matters, including cybersecurity, data privacy, and government surveillance issues. Absent independent, subject-matter tech expertise among his Congressional colleagues, Moore was forced to seek out advice on those issues from individuals outside of the hallways of Capitol Hill. He founded TechCongress to address that gap in tech knowledge.

TechCongress became the first project launched by the Open Technology Institute’s Beta Initiative, an incubator of projects that bridge the divide between technology and policy, with generous seed funding from New America board member Reid Hoffman. Former OTI Director Kevin Bankston and New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter were early champions of TechCongress’s vision of building a government for the 21st century.

“OTI and New America have been incredible homes for both TechCongress and me personally,” said TechCongress Director Travis Moore. “We’ve grown our fellowship class from two fellows annually to sixteen; we’ve leaned into and powered through the worst of a pandemic; and we launched a Congressional Digital Service fellowship, galvanizing Congress to invest in its own digital capacity. Anne-Marie Slaughter, Kevin Bankston, Cecilia Muñoz, and OTI’s current director, Sarah Morris, have been incredible supporters. It hasn’t been an easy road launching and growing this fellowship, but with their support, we’ve succeeded beyond all of our hopes and expectations.”

Open Technology Institute Director Sarah Morris said, “Since 2015, TechCongress has grown from merely an idea to infuse more technology expertise in Congress to a program with sixteen fellows annually, with aspirations for greater growth and work outside of Congress. We are so proud to be a part of TechCongress’s story, and we look forward to many future collaborations.”

New America CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter said, “We’re so proud of everything that TechCongress has achieved, and are glad that New America has been able to incubate the program from a fledgling initiative to Travis’s original vision of a TechCongress Foundation.Travis and TechCongress have shown us all how a big idea can become big action. We wish him and the TechCongress team all the best.”

You can find more information about TechCongress at www.techcongress.io.