Agenda
Plan your Summit experience
Schedule is subject to change without notice. All times listed are in Eastern Time.
Tracks:
7:30 am–9:00 am
Registration and breakfast
9:00 am–11:00 am
Mainstage
Combination of keynotes, fireside chats, and panel discussions
11:00 am–11:30 am
Networking break
11:30 am–12:30 pm
Breakout sessions
Multiple sessions running concurrently
Service Design + Delivery
Civic User Experience Help Desk by Code for America
Are you working on a thorny civic design project and need some help? Do you have a question about doing research? Do you need assistance creating a process map or service blueprint? Or would you just like to talk through your project with an expert? Whether you have a fully fleshed out project or an idea you’d like feedback on, the Civic User Experience Help Desk is here for you. If you are attending Summit, come on by and grab some time with us!
Service Design + Delivery
Driving new research routes: Designing tools for frontline workers in public transit
- Anna Chung, Senior UX Designer, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
- Kathleen Meditz, Senior Service Designer, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
- Mariele Ventrice, Product Designer & UX Researcher, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Frontline workers make government services possible. However, their needs are often neglected, and the tools they are given can make their jobs harder. At the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, we’ve conducted deep research with operators, inspectors, and dispatchers who keep our buses and trains running every day. But conducting research with frontline workers has its challenges. How do you reach workers who are always on the move? How do you build trust with those who are skeptical of digital tools? In this session, we’ll discuss how we conducted research with users who are on the go, created feedback loops, and formed relationships built on trust.
Operations + Management
Shared principles to modernize hiring and recruiting
- Angelica "Angie" Quirarte, Federal Partnerships Director, Tech Talent Project
- Alex Lawrence, Chief People Officer, City of Boston
- Rebecca Heywood, Governments Team Lead, U.S. Digital Response
- Michelle Kwasny, Research and Design Strategy, Bloom Works
A number of cities and states are in the midst of rethinking their hiring and recruiting systems and processes. What are the challenges they face? What steps are they taking? What has worked thus far? And, how might we learn from each other’s mistakes and successes? Based on our collective knowledge, can we devise a shared set of principles to guide this work?
People Power + Community
It takes a village: Building an inclusive culture by making accessibility everyone’s responsibility
- Christine Thomas, Content Strategist, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Lindsay Goldstein, Customer Experience Strategist, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Maroya Faied, Team Manager, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, U.S. Department of the Interior,
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is a small federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. While you may not have heard of us, we collected over $22 billion in revenue this year and disbursed the funds to federal and local governments, and Tribal Nations. In 2020, our small innovation team was asked to redesign ONRR’s website, with a priority on 508 compliance and accessibility best practices. We will talk about how accessibility became a cornerstone of ONRR’s culture, and how everyone at our agency is responsible for creating accessible content. We’ll also talk about getting buy-in and avoiding push-back, and how we incorporated human-centered design in our redesigned website.
Policy + Administration
Prototyping policy change in the WIC program and beyond
- Christina Chauvenet, PhD, Senior Manager of Research and Program Innovation, National WIC Association
- Lauren Peterson, Senior Product Manager, Nava PBC
- Martelle Esposito, MS, MPH, Partnerships and Evaluation Lead, Nava PBC
Pandemic policy waivers temporarily removed in-person requirements for the WIC program, creating an opportunity to prototype possibilities for program transformation in the digital age. At the same time, systemic barriers to equitable technology distribution became apparent. The National WIC Association and Nava PBC will share results from a national survey of WIC participants, a technology landscape assessment, and a demonstration project in Montana, showcasing how to use technology research and prototypes as advocacy tools for policy change like 1) making policy waivers permanent and 2) creating more equitable technology access with a national WIC API standard.
12:30 pm–1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm–2:30 pm
Breakout sessions
Service Design + Delivery
The unintended consequences of civic tech: How technologists can implement a harm reduction model
- Aayat Ali, UX Designer, Digital Service at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
As more people in the U.S. use mobile phones to access the internet, the physical and mental stress that comes with that increases as well. This talk will address how we as technologists can recognize our roles and offer products that take a whole person approach and mitigate harm, whether we are designing for vulnerable populations like survivors of domestic violence or for other behavioral health concerns. In this session, we’ll reference sources like “Designing for Safety” by Eva Penzeymoog and our experience working on community-based harm reduction with the L.A. County’s Office of Diversion and Reentry.
Operations + Management
Lessons from attempting a culture shift: Introducing and scaling digital services in city government
- Michal Perlstein, Senior Manager, Digital Engagement, City of Seattle
Six years ago, the City of Seattle established a new IT Department, which was tasked with creating the City’s first cross-functional digital services team focusing on products that provide information for the public. While maintaining the existing digital properties, embarking on this mission required a blend of change management and product management that was challenging. We reimagined systems and processes, aligned standards, reduced technical debt, initiated human-centered design practices, and built strong partnerships. In this session, you'll learn how the City of Seattle centralized its digital services, how we've streamlined to meet rising demand, and where we’re headed.
People Power + Community
Democratizing research thinking
- Alexandra Mack, Director of Research, Ad Hoc LLC
Lately research work has become more inclusive, with democratization efforts bringing more people into the process of collecting data. Now it’s time to bring more people into the process of Research Thinking (RT), which supports impactful change by applying an understanding of human needs and behavior to decision making. This interactive session will guide non-researchers through how to use RT to frame problems, identify assumptions, understand what data is needed to enable decisions, and synthesize findings to understand the best path forward. You’ll then work in groups to identify and collaboratively apply RT approaches to your challenges.
2:30 pm–2:45 pm
Break
2:45 pm–3:45 pm
Breakout sessions
Multiple sessions running concurrently
Service Design + Delivery
Under the hood: How Google works to improve access to benefits information in Search
- Jesse Mwaura, Software Engineer, Google
- Eliza-Eve Leas, Product Manager, Google
- Angela Crocker Lewis, Partnerships Manager, Google
The Economic Opportunity Search team works to surface authoritative and helpful information about services, resources, and opportunities that support users' economic advancement. The team will give an update on their work since last year, including how they leveraged AI to make Medicaid and Accessibility information more discoverable, and dive into how they assess quality results in Search.
Operations + Management
Missouri’s quarterly pulse survey: Being responsive to the government workforce
- Alyssa Bish, Director of Personnel, Missouri Division of Personnel
- Harrison MacRae, People Analytics and Visualization Specialist, Missouri Division of Personnel
The Missouri State Government operates a leading workforce survey program to collect feedback from ~45,000 public servants. The Quarterly Pulse Survey (QPS) assesses organizational health from the team member’s perspective and informs many state-wide initiatives. Recently, QPS has spurred new professional development opportunities, a focus on team member well-being, and continuous improvement efforts. In this session, the Missouri Division of Personnel will discuss QPS implementation, analysis, and the resulting workforce initiatives. This session will be an excellent chance to promote discussion among a community of workforce practitioners.
People Power + Community
Innovative expansion of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA): Advancing equity through high school youth empowerment and community engagement
- Melissa Jackson-Schmidt, Chief Program Officer, Campaign for Working Families
- Dr. Nikia Owens, CEO/President, Campaign for Working Families
- Stacie Johnson, Business and Accounting Teacher, Abraham Lincoln High School
- Youssef Ichou, Student, Abraham Lincoln High School
The Campaign for Working Families’ innovative Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) youth volunteer program works with students in the School District of Philadelphia at Lincoln High School to receive IRS-based training and then volunteer to prepare taxes for the community throughout the tax season. The students complete approx. 250-300 tax returns, which provides close to $375K to their community in refunds and saves close to $70K in tax preparation fees. In addition to learning valuable financial and customer service skills that are transferable to many industries, they are contributing to the welfare of their communities and are champions of change, advocacy, and sound financial practices.
Policy + Administration
Delivering for people in moments that matter: A “life experiences” approach to public service design and delivery
- Whitney Robinson, Digital Services Expert, U.S. Digital Service
- Lashanda Hodge, Managing Director, Customer Experience Center of Excellence, U.S. General Services Administration
- Paul Funk, Senior Advisor, Chief Business Officer, Social Security Administration
- Amira C. Boland, Federal Customer Experience Lead, Office of Management and Budget
Last year, Executive Order 14058 on "Transforming the Customer Experience and Federal Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government" formalized a framework for Federal service design that is more focused on the perspective of people we serve. Too often, people have to navigate a tangled web of websites, offices, and phone numbers to access the services they depend on. The “life experience” framework requires a new model of working together—within agencies, across agencies, even across levels of government—driven by customer research. This panel will focus on the lessons learned from five interagency, interdisciplinary teams that were selected by the Administration for this collective effort.
3:45 pm–4:00 pm
Break
4:00 pm–5:00 pm
Breakout sessions
Multiple sessions running concurrently
Service Design + Delivery
Making it easy to create digital forms for government
- Betty Mwema, Senior Service Designer, UK Government Digital Service
- Chris Cameron, Senior Interaction Designer, UK Government Digital Service
- Hannah Cooper, Senior Service Content Designer, UK Government Digital Service
- Adam Robertson, Senior Product Manager, UK Government Digital Service
Government runs on forms. It’s how we collect information from people to provide public services. But document-based forms are often annoying, difficult, or even impossible for some people to complete. With almost 9,000 document-based forms on the UK government website, GOV.UK, we know this can mean that people are unable to access the services they need. In this session you’ll hear how the UK’s Government Digital Service is building a tool for non-digital specialists in government to create their own online forms. These new webforms are more accessible, easier to use, quicker to process, mobile friendly…and they’re not PDFs or spreadsheets!
Operations + Management
Going from term to perm: Keeping tech talent to modernize federal government
- Emma Shirato Almon, Manager, Tech & Innovation, Partnership for Public Service
- Mark Lerner, Director, Tech & Innovation, Partnership for Public Service
- Michelle Ly, Associate, Tech & Innovation, Partnership for Public Service
Drawing inspiration from public interest law, individuals and organizations are creating opportunities for technologists, data scientists, designers, product managers and other technical talent to use their skills for the public good. This session outlines a number of innovative models and pathways for tech talent to serve on a short-term basis, while demonstrating the need for long-term and permanent placements to create lasting change. Using federal hiring data, employee experiences, and case studies from our work supporting federal agencies, we will highlight the regulatory, management, and mindset changes needed to hire, retain, and empower tech talent across levels to modernize the federal government's ways of working and ensure equitable and effective service delivery for the public.
People Power + Community
Beyond heroics: Burnout in public interest tech and what we can do about it
- Ayushi Roy, Deputy Director, New Practice Lab, New America
- Corey Mahoney, Director of Content Strategy, Bloom Works
- Tina Walha, Interim CEO, U.S. Digital Response
Public interest technologists have been in crisis mode—especially under the stressors of COVID-19 —to show what’s possible, navigate rapid change, and make government work in new ways. Many have risen to the occasion for weeks or years. What happens when adrenaline wears off, brains and bodies tire, or heroics aren't enough? This workshop will focus on preventing and recovering from burnout personally and as a field. How do we mature into a field where people can spend a career? We'll discuss experiences, share resources, and make space for participants to share ideas for how to design practices and organizations for sustainability.
Policy + Administration
Disappear administrative burdens for healthcare renewals with this one weird trick
- Jennifer Wagner, Director of Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment, CBPP
- Shalaka Gole, Sr. Product Manager, Code for America
- Ashley "Tez" Cortez, Sr. Service Designer, Code for America
- Laura Lopez, Family Support and Assistance Program Manager, Olmsted County
Benefits renewals are some of the most difficult moments in anyone’s safety net journey: paperwork, verifications, and follow-ups with agencies that are already swamped. More than 80 million Medicaid participants will need to confront this challenge as the Public Health Emergency ends in 2023, and millions will likely lose coverage due to process challenges. What if we could eliminate ever having to begin that journey in the first place? Ex parte renewals allow state and county governments to automatically renew Medicaid benefits before even sending the first client outreach notice. Governments can flip the paradigm of benefits administration by using data on hand to help people keep their healthcare benefits all while reducing work for their teams. This session will explore the nitty-gritty of real world ex parte renewals in modern and legacy eligibility systems.
5:00 pm–6:00 pm
Networking sponsor reception
calendar_today Tuesday, May 16, 5:00–6:00pm ETlocation_on Omni Shoreham, outdoor patio
Join us for a social hour where you can network and engage with this year’s sponsors and attendees.
6:30 pm–8:30 pm
People of color social co-hosted with Nava PBC
location_on New Heights Restaurant, 2317 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
An inclusive event for anyone who identifies as a person of color, including Black, East Asian, Indigenous, Latinx, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and other underrepresented groups. Hosted by Code for America and Nava PBC. Join us for networking, hors d’oeuvres, and beverages.
Register to let us know if you plan to attend
