Navigating Frictions in Civic Tech and Mission-Driven Work
Overview
Tuesday, October 24, 4 -5pm CT
Civic tech is a crowing field and an increasingly critical space for service delivery and participation in public life. It is also an important interface between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors—in terms of research and knowledge production, career trajectories, the nature of civic engagement, and more. What does this work that look like in practice? How do civic tech practitioners define and incorporate values into their work? What are they key frictions and challenges in this space? Join us for a lively and candid discussion about what it’s like being an ethnographer in and for public programs.
Panelists
Nadine Levin
UX Researcher, San Francisco Digital Services | Chair
Nadine is an anthropologist and UX researcher, with a focus on strategic research, improving equitable access to technology, and combining ethnography and quantitative research. She currently leads research and service design on the City and County of San Francisco’s Digital Services team, whose work focuses on improving the digital experience with permitting and forms, as well as helping the city centralize and scale its digital resources on SF.gov. She has previously worked at Meta, UCLA, and the University of Exeter, after completing a DPhil in Social Anthropology at Oxford.
Matt bernius
Principal Qualitative Researcher, Code for America
Matt applies concepts from the social sciences and design to create more equitable government systems and experiences. His current work at Code for America focuses on improving access to and delivery of social safety net services. Prior to joining CfA, he worked on making criminal legal system data more transparent at Measures for Justice. Matt holds a Master’s degree in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and was a PhD student in Cultural Anthropology at Cornell University. He also writes and speaks regularly on the topic of Trauma Informed Design.
Nichole Carelock
Digital Service Expert, United States Digital Service
Nichole Carelock is an anthropologist with 10+ years of experience building technical solutions that not only work for people, but with people. Previously, she worked on privacy at Meta and in civic technology ensuring the Presidential Transition Teams were equipped with the right tech policy, people, and practices to succeed. Her expertise spans from service design for healthcare systems with millions of users, to intimate cottage industry ethnographies. She also belongs to and serves many communities including AfroTech, User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA), and the American Anthropological Association (AAA). In addition, she’s passionate about digital services for vulnerable populations and prides herself on being a “slow thinker” in a world of “failing fast” “rapid iteration” and “disruption.” Through slow thinking, she works to ensure that innovation, strategies, processes, and products are anchored in what matters to people in their everyday lives today and over time.
Kathleen Meditz
Senior Product Designer, Boston MBTA + Ad Hoc
Kathleen is a designer and researcher who aims to make digital services work better for people. She has worked in civic tech for the past 7 years, focusing on ethical design and simplifying complex systems. Currently, Kathleen is a Senior UX Designer at the MBTA, Boston’s public transit agency, where she designs tools for managing bus service. She was the first UX researcher hired by the MBTA, and has since worked on various projects, such as redesigning MBTA.com and digitizing train management. Previously, Kathleen worked at Ad Hoc, where she contributed to re-designing HealthCare.gov and Medicare.gov.