I like making lists, so when GovFresh invited me to put together a list of women involved in government and technology efforts, I jumped at the chance. But although top ten lists are wildly popular, I’ve met so many incredible people working on Gov 2.0, open government, e-gov efforts that I thought the world needed a better glimpse of the breadth of involvement women have at all levels of government, in nonprofits, academia, conferences, media and the private sector. The hope is that this list will allow event organizers, members of the media, other list makers, etc. to easily build a diverse representation in their projects.
I published another list a few years back of top women in tech policy &/or politics on The Political Voices of Women blog, and there are a few cross-listed here, but the goal here was to take out the partisanship and just focus on ongoing efforts of women using technology to empower government and the public process. While I was researching, I did compile more names of women involved in Europe and Australia. That will have to be another list, but it was exciting to find even more amazing women, particularly through this post by Carrie Bishop.
Here’s the disclaimer: although I did ask around and use several different resources to build this list, I’m sure there are people I missed. So I welcome additions at any point. This is all about being inclusive and expansive. That’s another reason that the list includes Twitter info for as many of the women as I could collect, so it’s easy to find them. Many of those women are involved in multiple ways, so some have been cross-listed in 2 or 3 categories. Each group is alphabetized. If anyone is mis-categorized or does not wish to remain on the list, please drop me a line @sairy on Twitter or via email, sarah(at)sarahgranger(dot)com. Additions, please add in the comments.
Government staff, Gov 2.0/government tech public sector
- Emma Antunes (NASA) – @eantunes
- Beth Beck (NASA) – @bethbeck
- Alissa Black (City/County of SF) – @alissa007
- Sarah Bourne (Mass.gov) – @sarahebourne
- Kirsten Burgard (Office of Information & Technology)
- Michelle Chronister (GSA)
- Mary Martha Churchman (DOT)
- Casey Coleman (CIO GSA) – @caseycoleman
- Cammie Croft (DOE) – @kookycam
- Linda Cureton (CIO NASA) – @curetonl
- Gretchen Curtis (NASA Nebula) – @gretcurtis
- Mary Davie (GSA) – @marydavie
- Katie Dowd (State Dept) – @katiewdowd
- Amanda Eamich (USDA) – @amandare
- Megan Eskey (NASA) – @meganesque
- Kristy Fifelski (City of Reno) – @kristyfifelski
- Rachel Flagg (Washington State) – @rachelflagg
- Kate Geyer (Mass Open Data) – @parsnipsoup
- Bev Godwin (GSA) – @BevUSA
- Lisa Grant (FEDSIM, GSA)
- Suzanne Hall (Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau, State) – @suzkph
- Barbara Haven (California Dept. of Technology Services) – @bhaven
- Evonne Heyning (NOAA) – @amoration
- Virginia Hill (NIH)- @GinnyHill
- Elizabeth Hochberg (GSA)
- Jeanne Holm (NASA JPL)
- Chris Johnson (NASA – US Space & Rocket Center)
- Melissa Jordan (SF Bay Area Rapid Transit)
- Sarah Kaufman (NY Convergence, Metropolitan Transit Authority)
- Cara Keithley (Ohio Dept. of Commerce) – @carakeithley
- Caitlin Klevorick (State Dept) – @caitlinbk
- Gwynne Kostin – @gwynnek
- Carolyn Lawson (State of CA Office of CIO)
- Randi Levin (City of Los Angeles)
- Carmen Medina (CIA)
- Beth Noveck (White House Deputy CIO)
- Hope O’Keefe (Library of Congress) – @lentigogirl
- Julia Rosen (HHS)
- Tracy Russo (DOJ) – @tracyrusso
- Katelyn Sabochik (White House; formerly DOI)
- Amanda Scott (US Trade Representative)
- Sonal Shah (White House Office of Social Innovation & Civic Participation)
- Katie Stanton (State Dept) – @kateatstate
- Teri Takai (DoD; formerly CA CIO)
- Haley Van Dyke (FCC)
- Merici Vinton (Serve.gov) – @merici
- Michelle Viotti (NASA JPL)
- Stacey Walker – @staceywalker
- Jess Weiss – @jessweiss
- Veronica Wendt (US Army) – @v_vern
- Lovisa Williams (State Dept) – @lovisatalk
Elected Officials involved with Gov 2.0 efforts
- Debra Bowen (Secretary of State, California) – @dbowen
- Pam Broviak (City of Geneva, Illinois) – @pbroviak
- Sally Lieber (former State Assembly Member, California) – @sallylieber
- Claire McCaskill (US Senate, from Missouri) – @clairecmc
- Jill Miller Zimon (City Council, Ohio) – @jillmz
Open government Policy/advocacy, nonprofit sector, academic researchers
- Kate Bladow (Pro Bono Net)
- Heather Blanchard (Crisis Commons) – @poplifegirl
- Danah Boyd (Berkman Center) – @zephoria
- Judy Brewer (W3C)
- Deborah Bryant (OSU Open Source Lab) – @debbryant
- Danese Cooper (Wikimedia Foundation, OSI)
- Jessy Cowan-Sharp (OpenGov Tracker/Sunlight) – @jessykate
- Kety Esquivel – @ketyE
- Judith Freeman (New Organizing Institute)
- Julie Germany (George Washington School of Public Management) – @julieg
- Kathy Gill (University of Washington) – @kegill
- Abby Goldberg (Digital Democracy) – @digiabby
- Sarah Granger (USACM) – @sairy
- Leslie Harris (Center for Democracy & Technology)
- Bryna Helfer (National Academy of Public Administration)
- Mary Hodder (UC Berkeley) – @maryhodder
- Emily Jacobi (Digital Democracy) – @digidem
- Cara Keithley (Franklin University) – @carakeithley
- Lorelei Kelly (New Strategic Security Initiative)
- Tina Lee (Stanford) – @mstinalee
- Elizabeth Losh (UC Irvine)
- Ellen Miller (Sunlight Foundation) – @ellnmllr
- Jen Pahlka (Code for America) – @pahlkadot
- Stormy Peters (GNOME Foundation) – @storming
- Megan Rhyne (Virginia Coalition for Open Government) – @opengovva
- Paulette Robinson (National Defense University)
- Denice Ross (Greater New Orleans Community Data Center)
- Gabriela Schneider (Sunlight Foundation) – @stereogab
- Sarah Swensson (Orange County Transportation Authority) – @RailSafeSarah
- Nancy Watzman (Sunlight Foundation) – @nwatzman
- Veronica Wendt (NDU) – @v_vern
- Heather West – @heatherwest
Writers, bloggers, other media, government & tech conference organizers
- Erica Anderson (Erica America) – @ericaamerica
- Nisha Chittal (Mediaite.com) – @nishachittal
- Amanda Coolong (TechZulu) – @acoolong
- Esther Dyson – @edyson
- Kety Esquivel – @ketyE
- Alison Fine (Momentum) – @afine
- Julie Germany (Politics Online Conference) – @julieg
- Sarah Granger (Personal Democracy Forum, Huffington Post) – @sairy
- Meghan Harvey (Gov 2.0 Radio) – @meghan1018
- Cecilia Kang (Washington Post) – @ceciliakang
- Gwynne Kostin (On Dot-Gov) – @gwynnek
- Erin Kotecki Vest (BlogHer) – @queenofspain
- Adina Levin (Transit Camp) – @alevin
- Jill Miller Zimon (Writes Like She Talks) – @jillmz
- Shireen Mitchell – @digitalsista
- Laurel Ruma (O’Reilly Media) – @laurelatoreilly
- Cynthia Samuels (Care2) – @csamuels
- Sarah Schacht (Open Gov West) – @sarahschacht
- Nancy Scola (Personal Democracy Forum) – @nancyscola
Gov 2.0/government tech, consultants in the private sector
- Susie Adams (Microsoft)
- Erica Anderson (Erica America) – @ericaamerica
- Andrea Baker (Navstar) – @immunity
- Kristin Bockius (Microsoft) – @microsoft_gov
- Silona Bonewald (Citability) – @silona
- Lisa Borodkin (Attorney) – @lisaborodkin
- Danah Boyd (Microsoft Research) – @zephoria
- Jamie Brown (Google)
- Teresa Carlson (Microsoft) – @teresacarlson
- Meghan Casey (Brain Traffic)
- Heather Coleman (CorpComm, Inc.) – @boones6433
- Gina Cooper (Project One Page) – @ginacooper
- Kety Esquivel – @ketyE
- Christina Gagnier (Gagnier Margossian) – @gagnier
- Deborah Hafford (Google Enterprise)
- Goldy Kamali (FedScoop) – @fedscoop
- Rita King (IBM) – @ritajking
- Adina Levin (Socialtext) – @alevin
- Debra Louison Lavoy (Open Text)
- CJ Luke (Public Remix) – @publicremix
- Shireen Mitchell – @digitalsista
- Thalia Nierenberg (Google)
- Megan Price (GovLoop) – @meganprice
- Sarah Schacht (Knowledge as Power) – @sarahschacht
- Amy Senger (1×57) – @sengseng
- Maxine Teller (MIXT Media) – @mixtmedia
- Susan Turpyn (Unisys)
- Tracy Viselli – @myrnatheminx
Great list of women in Government & Technology! It’s nice to see people I know on there like Kristy Fifelski and Pam Broviak.
Two people you missed are Susan Christophersen and Carol Spencer, who serve as officers on the National Association of Government Webmasters board of directors. Susan, the board’s secretary, and Carol, our treasurer, also sit on the Executive Committee.
Both have been instrumental in helping NAGW plan our national conferences and guiding our organization towards bigger and better things at the local government level.
Again, great list, well done!
Thanks, Ron. Just emailed with Susan late last night. Look forward to learning more about NAGW.
Do you want to share their Twitter accounts?
I just received this addition via e-mail:
Christina Goodness, serving under the Chief of Staff and CIO of UN Peacekeeping Operations (& an NYU adjunct professor).
On Twitter: @goodnotes
Hillary Hartley / @quepol
Director of Integrated Marketing
NIC Inc.
egovernment provider to 23 states and hundreds of local governments
Just a note that I have been a contractor for local gov and State Dept but not NOAA beyond occasionally enjoying their work in Second Life. I focus on interactive production for global engagement including mixed reality, streaming conversations, virtual worlds. Thanks for the listing!
Evonne Heyning @Amoration
Wow, I made the list, however, I work for the department of veterans affairs, in the office of information and technology. But, wow, thanks for the mention. If you’re a US government employee(state, local, or fed) and do drupaly or joomlaish stuff, drop me a line. You might like our Drupal4Gov group for sharing open source best practices, lessons learned, and even some code.
Kirsten Burgard
I’m on Twitter as @uniongal
Don’t forget Stephanie Schierholz, Social Media Manager at NASA HQ — @schierholz on Twitter
She and Beth Beck are a tour de force at helping ordinary folks like me experience OUR space program in new and exciting ways, through social media and NASA events such as the incredibly wonderful and memorable NASA Tweetups at Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center and elsewhere.
Great list! Thanks for the effort in compiling. Some additions suggested from the intelligence world:
Lisa Porter (Director, IARPA)
Regina Dugan (Director, DARPA)
Dawn Meyerriecks (Dep. DNI for Acquisition & Technology)
Tish Long (Director, NGA)
Casey Henson (CTO, DIA)
Priscilla Guthrie (CIO, ODNI)
Kelcy Allwein (DIA)
Must have Beth Becker @Spedwybabs blogger on DailyKos, Coffee Party National Team, Blog Workers Industrial Union organizer, PeanutButterPAC board member, Progressive PST social media strategist.
And @DarcyGBurner, DailyKos blogger, WA-08 Congressional candidate, head of Progressive Congress.
Hi! I’m Summer Nemeth, @imagineelection. I’m the founder of Imagine Election, a nonpartisan voter guide, and I spend most of my time writing the code that drives it. Thanks for the great list!
Tracy Russo is at Dept of Justice, Heather Cronk is formerly NOI and now Get Equal @hcronk, Nikki Sutton is formerly NTIA and now is at the White House (but not Twitter), Anthea Watson is with the Voter Information Project…good list to track!
Thanks for including me on the list. I would add:
Dr. Paulette Robinson (National Defense University) -@pjrobinson
She is one of the founders of the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds (FCVW) and continues to push the boundaries on the art of the possible with her vGov initiative.
Sarah, thanks so much for including me on this august list – what an honor!
Allison
Thank you for including me on such a great list! I really appreciate your hard work in putting this together.
Go Alissa Black! You’ve been absolutely inspiring. Hope we can continue transforming SF.
hi, great list. christina goodness from the united nations has done amazing things.
Great list! I also recommend adding these three advocates of free public access to legal information:
Erika Wayne, Stanford University Law Library, @evwayne : leader in the Law.gov legal open government data movement, and advocate of PACER reform ;
Mary Alice Baish, Director of the American Association of Law Libraries’ Government Relations Office, @mabaish ; advocate of free public access to legal information; see the blog: http://aallwash.wordpress.com/ ;
Emily Feldman, Advocacy Communications Assistant at American Association of Law Libraries’ Government Relations Office, http://j.mp/bamJ06 ; advocate of free public access to legal information.
Thank you everyone for all of your kind words and additions. I have also received a lot of e-mail and Twitter direct messages with still more information that I’m working on compiling.
I’m developing a Twitter list for those on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/sairy/gov20women. Please continue to send me Twitter account info so we can make sure everyone’s on that.
I’m also thinking of putting together a Google doc where the list could be editable and easy to update (a great idea from Laurel Ruma). What do you all think? Would you look there, or is it enough to have this post and comments plus a Twitter list?
This is a great list of phenomenal women in tech. Share with your daughters or any woman interested in technology. Congratulations to all!
Great list and great women. Thanks for including me! I am humbled to be standing side by side with my amazon sisters. :-)
A few more warriors to add to the list:
Sheila Campbell, the amazing Dean of Web Mgr U and one of FastCompany’s most influential women in tech @sheiladcusa
Erin Edgerton, smart smart woman working on WH new media team @eedgerton
Janice Nall, can you say amazing CDC health marketing web20 comms, and coming soon to a new leadership role in e-gov? @janicenall
Sarah Roper, director of the award winning usa.gov at GSA and budding mobile apps maven
Looks like women are rocking the gov2.0 space, no?
best,
Gwynne
I’m so honored to be on this amazing list. Thank you Sarah for taking the time to compile it. I hope to catch up with you more on Twitter and maybe meet in person at some point. It’s hard sometimes being outside the beltway (based in Fredericksburg, VA) to make all the great DC events and keep up with the networking. That’s why social media is so great, helps me keep in the loop.
Now the task of following all these fabulous women (if I’m not already). And yes,Gwynne – “women are rocking the gov2.0 space!”
Also another follow-up note: I am creating an email list of women in government & technology. Anyone on the Govfresh list or Twitter list are welcome to join. Please email me. sarah(at)sarahgranger(dot)com.
Humbled to be in such company. I am not worthy.
Thanks for the shout-out – it’s so nice to have my contributions appreciated.
This site is really resourceful. I re-comment it to my fellow learner.
This is a great resource. Thanks for compiling it and congrats to all the women on the list!