Hacking civics
Call it a Peace Corps of geeks. That's the phrase Jennifer Pahlka (in red shirt on the couch, surrounded by her 2012 fellows) uses for Code for America, the San Francisco nonprofit she founded and runs. Her goal is to connect young web designers and developers with what may be the least tech-savvy sector of American life: state and local governments. Pahlka brings together the same young people who help build companies such as Google and Apple, gives them an 11-month fellowship, and places them in municipalities across the nation, with the charge of bringing those community governments into the 21st century. In Boston, fellows designed an application that helps parents find the right public school for their kids. The app is being adopted by school systems across the country.
From new innovators to the old guard, these companies are experiencing phenomenal growth in the tech sector.
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