Introducing USDR’s New Executive Team

Today, we’re excited to announce U.S. Digital Response’s new executive team, established to support the growing number of volunteers, Technologists-in-Residence, and staff who provide critical, nonpartisan, pro bono technical support at the speed of need. We are grateful for our key funders like the Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, who enable us to build and grow a sustainable organization that can be a resource for governments across the country as they face shared challenges.

Advisor and co-founder Jen Pahlka, who also founded Code for America and served as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer from 2013–14, when she established the United States Digital Service, emphasized the need for an executive team to grow an organization that is in high demand now and for the foreseeable future, saying, “USDR was founded to help governments around the country help people face an unprecedented crisis. Volunteers started with PPE supply chains and scheduling software for COVID-19 testing centers, but soon moved on to help with unemployment benefits, election websites, vaccination logistics and a wide variety of other projects where world-class tech and design support are needed. The health crisis isn’t over, and neither are the ongoing challenges governments face to deliver services to people in need. USDR has a lot of critical work ahead, and I’m delighted to see this stellar team commit to being there for our government partners for as long as it takes.”

“Rapid, responsive and free technical support is critical for governments facing a crisis, whether it be overwhelmed unemployment systems, ensuring safe and accessible elections in a pandemic or the nascent vaccine distribution effort,” said Raylene Yung, USDR co-founder and CEO. “ I couldn’t ask for a better team to support this work. Each member is an accomplished technologist who has come to USDR from successful careers in government and at some of the biggest and fastest growing tech companies in the world. But more than that, each of them also joined and shaped USDR as a volunteer themselves, putting in countless hours to work alongside dedicated civil servants and nonprofit partners on the frontlines. They are driven by a desire to serve the public interest, and are bringing years of deep technical expertise to help strengthen civil services in this time of compounding and interconnected crises. I know this amazing team will ensure that USDR continues to forge deeper government partnerships, develop a strong community of dedicated technologists eager to give back, and build more responsive support systems for the people who need it most.”

The five-member leadership team comprises:

• Alex Allain, who will oversee the development of technological tools, automation and infrastructure at USDR. Alex most recently served as a Director of Engineering at Dropbox.
• Jessica Cole, who will oversee partnerships, marketing, and communications. Jessica was recently a fellow at the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub and formerly served as Head of Innovation and Economic Development for the City of Walnut Creek and as a Code for America Fellow.
• Jessica Watson, who will lead the people power of USDR from volunteer staffing and support to HR. Jessica is a product design leader who was most recently a Director of Product Design at Facebook.
• Raphael Lee, who will be overseeing USDR products and programs. Raph recently led product engineering, data science, infrastructure, IT and security teams as VP of Engineering at Lob and Engineering Manager at Airbnb.
• Raylene Yung, who co-founded USDR in March 2020 with former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officers Cori Zarek, Jennifer Pahlka and Ryan Panchadsaram, will remain as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. Raylene was recently a fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub. Previously, she was an engineering and product executive at Stripe and Facebook.

Members of the newly named executive team are all long-term leaders and co-founders of USDR and are deeply involved in many of the organization’s signature projects, from COVID-19 response and election protection efforts to unemployment insurance modernization and the NYC[x] Innovation Fellowship program.

This announcement is just one way we are gearing up to support USDR’s team and partners in 2021. We’re continuing to build USDR into a robust, responsive organization that provides volunteer technical support to all levels of government across the country, and we celebrate this important step on that journey.