About Jennifer Pahlka

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder, executive director and board chair of Code for America.

Code for America helps governments work better for everyone with the people and the power of the web. They are building a network of cities, citizens, community groups, and startups, all equally committed to reimagining government for the 21st century. She modeled the organization after Teach for America, with the goal of uniting technologists and city employees.

For her work re-imagining government for the 21st century, Pahlka was named a 2011 HuffPost Gamechanger. Code for America also received a $1.5 million dollar grant from Google as part of its 2011 Google Gives Back program.

Previously, she ran the Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 events for TechWeb, in conjunction with O'Reilly Media, and co-chaired the successful Web 2.0 Expo. Before that, she spent eight years at CMP Media where she ran the Game Developers Conference, Game Developer magazine, and Gamasutra.com; there she also launched the Independent Games Festival and served as Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association. Jennifer's early career was spent in the non-profit sector.

Pahlka has always been interested in public service. After graduating from Yale University, she worked at two Bay Area nonprofits, including a child welfare agency, but found them too rigid and bureaucratic.

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