Civic and Political Technology in 2021 and Beyond

Join Politics & Public Policy club and Wharton Social Impact Club to hear from 3 leading figures in the exciting field of civic and political technology. We will hear from panelists on both the start-up and VC sides of the industry, representing Google, Higher Ground Labs, and VoteAmerica. Together, our panelists have a wealth of experience in both leading and funding companies influencing elections and impacting policy. Speakers include:

Dan Keyserling:

Dan is the Chief Operating Officer of Jigsaw, a unit within Google that explores threats to open societies, and builds technology that inspires scalable solutions. In his role, Dan helps to lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers, scientists, and engineers that conduct groundbreaking research and build technology to tackle some of the toughest global security challenges facing the world today—from thwarting online censorship to mitigating the threats from digital attacks to countering violent extremism to protecting people from online harassment. Prior to joining Google in 2010, Dan worked for The New York Times and at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, a nonpartisan think tank devoted to studying American politics and civic engagement. Dan started his career as part of the communications team of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Debra Cleaver:

Debra is the founder and CEO of VoteAmerica, a national nonprofit leveraging research-driven campaigns to register and turnout the 100+ million Americans who are traditionally excluded by partisan outreach efforts. Debra is a serial founder whose organizations include Vote.org (2016), ElectionDay.org (2018), Long Distance Voter (2008), and Swing the State (2004). Debra is an alum of Pomona College and Y Combinator, and a former Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship.
Debra frequently speaks on issues impacting voter turnout, with appearances at SXSW, Harvard Law, the Harvard School of Government, and University of Michigan.

Shomik Dutta:

Shomik is a co-founder and partner at Higher Ground Labs, an accelerator and venture fund for the Democratic Party. Shomik co-launched Higher Ground Labs in the wake of the 2016 election and has since invested $15 million into 40 technology start-ups that support over 4,000 Democratic campaigns, causes, and labor unions. Shomik is a veteran of both Obama Presidential campaigns and served as Special Assistant to the White House Counsel and as an Advisor to Federal Communications Chairman. BA from Williams College; MBA from Wharton Business School.

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Co-hosted with: Wharton Social Impact Club