Meet the 2019 Fellows: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Students streamlining the refugee and asylum application processes
This post is part of a series introducing the 2019 Civic Digital Fellows, a cohort of 50+ students working to improve the federal government with their computer science, data science, design, and product management skills. Meet some of them below.
Meet the Fellows
Johncarlo Cerna
Johncarlo is a rising senior at the University of Florida studying Computer Science.
Q. Why are you excited to be a Civic Digital Fellow?
A. The best thing I can do with my passion for technology is to use it to help others. Becoming a Civic Digital Fellow has given me a unique opportunity to build exciting software with real civic impact.
Q. Who is the person you admire the most, and why?
A. Margaret Hamilton. She was the director of the Software Engineering Division for the lab that developed the flight software for the Apollo space program and excelled in a male-dominated space. She also coined the term “software engineer.” and the error detection software she wrote averted an abort on the moon landing. If anyone’s worthy of admiration, it’s her!
Onintze Contreras
Onintze is a rising senior at Cornell University studying Information Science.
Q. Why are you excited to be a Civic Digital Fellow?
A. I fell in love with Coding It Forward’s commitment to public service. I’m also really excited about my possible new mentors as I explore civic tech this summer.
Q. Who is the person you admire the most, and why?
A. Maria Hinojosa’s trailblazing journalism and her creation of Futuro Media Group have allowed me to feel seen and heard and continuously inspire me to speak my truths.
Jierui Fang
Jierui is a rising senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying Art and Design.
Q. Why are you excited to be a Civic Digital Fellow?
I’m fascinated by policy and governmental processes and am excited to apply my passion for design from within the government with the potential to create an impact on such a large scale. I enjoy working across disciplines and love that the Fellowship aggregates students with diverse skillsets, all passionate about civic issues, to work together and solve pressing problems.
Q. What is a fun fact about yourself?
I did part of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage this winter, walking 120 km over the course of 5 days (in nearly constant rain).
The Civic Digital Fellowship is a first-of-its-kind data science and technology internship program for innovative students to solve pressing problems in federal agencies. Check out our website for more information and to sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know when applications for our 2020 cohort open.
