About

U.S. Digital Response connects experienced, pro-bono technologists with local government and non-profit organizations responding to crisis, to quickly deliver critical services and infrastructure that support the needs of the public.

We are non-partisan, fast and free. We operate with humility and deep respect for our partners and believe that modern and resilient technology applied in the public interest can deliver people-centered services at the speed of need.

What We Do

U.S. Digital Response helps governments and non-profits deliver responsive, people-centered services with modern and resilient technology.

We work with our partners to identify gaps and challenges, understand the needs of communities and constituents, and find, build or develop tools needed to deliver critical services to the people who need them.

With the support of our core staff, USDR’s work is powered by experienced technologists drawn from major tech companies. These teams volunteer their time and talent because they want to make a difference.

Each team member is carefully vetted and matched to the appropriate project. Our technologists work fast, they work for free, and they deliver results that help our communities work better, safer and faster for us all.

We work at the speed of need. Most of our projects are up and running, if not completed, in a matter of weeks, if not days.

Our Values

We work in the public interest.

All USDR volunteers are skilled workers and experts who give their time to help governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises. While with USDR, we do not use our volunteer efforts to further personal and professional interests.

Public interest projects belong in the public domain, so we abide by a set of Data and Software Guidelines that promote openness and accessibility.

We work with humility and respect.

Governments and the people they employ operate under constraints that are not always visible to those outside of the public sector. Everyone involved in crisis response is under enormous strain—in order to be effective, we must check our egos and our judgment, without losing our critical thinking.

We observe a code of conduct.

We require all team members and volunteers to read and sign this Volunteer Oath before joining. We will ask volunteers to step away from projects if they are no longer a good fit for the work or have not acted in a way that is aligned with our mission and values.

Leadership Team

Raylene Yung

Raylene Yung is USDR’s CEO and a recent fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub. She was an engineering and product executive at Stripe and Facebook.

Emily Barlow

Emily was mostly recently at Apple, where she worked as an Engineering Program Manager for next generation display hardware and, previously, a supply chain manager for display components.

Jessica MacLeod

Jessica consults on Digital Transformation for the public sector. She was the head of Customer Success at Socrata and prior to that a Policy Analyst at the Center for Global Development. She is the co-host of The Government We Need podcast.

Jessica Watson

Jessica is a product design leader who most recently led various design teams at Facebook.

Raphael Lee

Raphael led product engineering, data science, infrastructure, IT, and security teams at Lob and Airbnb.

Jessica Cole

Jessica is a Fellow at the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub. She formerly served as Head of Innovation and Economic Development for the City of Walnut Creek and as a Code for America Fellow.

Alex Allain

Alex is a product engineering leader who most recently led various engineering and product efforts at Dropbox.

Janette Fong

Janette is a former Product Lead and Product Manager at Lyft and Director of Product at LendUp.

Advisors

Cori Zarek is the Director of Data + Digital at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and previously served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer.

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder and former executive director of Code for America. She served as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2013–2014, where she founded the United States Digital Service.

Ryan Panchadsaram joined Kleiner Perkins in 2016 and was the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer.

U.S. Digital Response is supported by:

U.S. Digital Response is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives.

Interested in lending a hand?

Special thanks

Two Hands Brands

Two Hands Brands is a brand identity studio who developed our visual identity and original website. Special thanks to Eva Frye, Mathieu Salé, Michaela Fiasová, Andy Birch, Malik Adán, and Calvin Hu.

Teal Media

Teal Media is a full-service creative agency based in Washington, D.C. who helped us develop our logo.