Alumni Spotlight: Tai Huynh (CDF ‘18)
One Fellow’s public service path, from the State Department to running for Town Council and launching a govtech venture
It’s no secret that many of Coding it Forward’s Civic Digital Fellows continue on in public service after their ten weeks in Washington, D.C. However, no two Fellows’ paths are the same, and Tai Huynh’s path may be the most unique.
After serving at the Department of State in the summer of 2018, Tai has channeled his passion for public service into a history-making campaign for Chapel Hill (NC) Town Council and a gov-tech startup helping local governments better understand the needs of residents.
Read on to hear Tai’s reflections on his time as a Fellow and how it helped shape his career.
The following has been lightly edited for clarity.
Coding it Forward: What have you been up to since finishing as a Civic Digital Fellow in 2018?
Tai Huynh: The Fellowship was a big catalyst for my interest in public service. Since my fellowship summer, I have graduated from UNC Chapel-Hill Class of 2020 with a major in Computer Science and minors in Business and Anthropology. I was appointed to and served on the Housing Board for the Town of Chapel Hill for 3 years, which culminated in me running for Town Council. I was honored to become the first Vietnamese-American elected to public office in the state of North Carolina when I won my seat on Council in November 2019. I’ve served on Town Council for just about a year now.
The knowledge I gained from the Fellowship inspired me to jump headfirst into entrepreneurship. I co-founded a Govtech venture called Acta Solutions and am actively building my venture. We have worked with local governments across North Carolina, helping them better understand their residents and make more data-driven decisions. We are working on releasing a new product improving user experience in government digital services.
CDF: Is there something that you learned as a Fellow that has been helpful in your work now?
TH: I still remember hearing the phrase “hacking bureaucracy” constantly throughout my fellowship experience, and it has stuck with me to this day. As a Fellow, I learned how to navigate bureaucratic structures inherent in government and hack them in creative ways to effectuate change at a more rapid pace. I learned that most people who work in government are really trying to better serve their constituents and how to use that shared goal to push innovative initiatives forward. I implement these learnings on an almost daily basis in both my role as an elected official and a Govtech entrepreneur trying to innovate in government.
CDF: What is your favorite memory from being a Civic Digital Fellow?
TH: That’s a tough one! It has to be a toss-up between getting to see Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, speak live and the rooftop pool hangs with the other fellows. Getting to bowl in the White House is also definitely up there. So many great memories.
CIF: Where do you think the future of technology and government is headed?
TH: I think government is really starting to realize the importance of user and customer experience and how investments in those can lead to large returns on investment across several business units. The trends around citizen expectations and the digital transformation of our world are only fueling that fire. In the next five years, I see government investing heavily in the capabilities to offer a seamless digital, omnichannel user/customer experience for citizens — much like what they already expect from the commercial services they access on a daily basis. Eventually, I think government will get to a place where data-collaboration and sharing on the backend amongst agencies is ubiquitous so that citizens can have a one-stop shop for all government services.
CDF: Do you have any suggestions for young people looking to break into civic tech?
TH:
- Immerse yourself in civic processes at whatever level of government you are passionate about and don’t be afraid to ask “why?” a lot — “why are things being done the current way?” — at the end of the day we all share the same goal of serving our communities. I’m biased but I really advocate for people to get involved at the local level. I just think folk can have an outsized impact on their local community by getting involved with their local government, whether through a resident board or just attending city council meetings.
- Join the conversation and get involved on Twitter! Most of the Civic Tech and GovTech thought leaders are very active on the platform and consistently share great content.
Tai Huynh is a 2020 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied Computer Science with minors in Business Administration and Anthropology. He served as a 2018 Civic Digital Fellow at the State Department. Learn more about Tai’s company Acta Solutions and his service on Chapel Hill’s Town Council.
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