The Federal Communication Commission has named six judges for its Apps for Communities competition that seeks software applications to get personalized, actionable information to the people least likely to take advantage of the digital revolution.
The FCC is working with the James L. and John S. Knight Foundation on the challenge who is offering $100,000 dollars in prizes, with additional prizes awarded to the best apps that reach and engage traditionally underserved communities—people with disabilities, seniors, and those whose first language is not English.
Judges:
- Marc Andreessen, Co-founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Andreessen is a noted investor in information technology. He previously developed the web browser Mosaic and co-founded the company Netscape; he is an investor in numerous technology startups including Digg and Twitter; and he serves on the boards of Facebook, eBay and Hewlett-Packard (among others).
- Charles Best, Founder and CEO, DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org is a website that allows people to donate directly to specific projects in schools and classrooms. It was started in 2000 by Best, when he was a teacher at a public high school in the Bronx. Since then, it has grown to serve all the public schools throughout the United States. As of August 2010, more than $55 million dollars had been donated to over 138,000 projects, helping more than 3,400,000 students in need.
- Corey Booker, Mayor, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Booker has a history of organizing and social justice work. His parents successfully fought against racial discrimination and shattered corporate ceilings, inspiring him to pursue a life of breaking barriers and working for change. On May 9, 2006, Cory Booker was elected Mayor of Newark, with a landslide victory.
- Brad Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group Feld has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group—which focuses on investing in early-stage IT companies—he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad currently serves on the board of directors of several companies for Foundry Group. In addition to his investing efforts, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chairman of the National Center for Women & Information Technology.
- Tom Lee, Director, Sunlight Labs Lee is the Director of Sunlight Labs; prior to assuming leadership of the labs, he managed Sunlight’s Subsidyscope project, an effort to explore the level of federal involvement in various sectors of the economy. His writing on technical policy has appeared in the American Prospect, Techdirt, Progressive Fix, and various impassioned Slashdot threads.
- Jennifer Pahlka, Founder, Executive Director and Board Chair, Code for America Pahlka is the Founder, Executive Director and Board Chair of Code for America, and has spent the past 15 years in the company of the technology elite. She spent eight years at CMP Media where she led the Game Group, overseeing GDC, Game Developer magazine, and Gamasutra.com; there she also launched the Independent Games Festival and served as Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association.
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Learn more about the Apps for Communities Challenge.
