Omidyar Network

Alissa Black is principal of investments at Omidyar Network. At the Omidyar Network, she is working to improve the relationship between citizens and government through driving sector-level change in government and the emerging civic technology ecosystem. Prior to joining Omidyar Network, Black was director of the California Civic Innovation Project (CCIP) at New America Foundation, where she was responsible for developing the project’s strategy and managing the research portfolio.

Rachel Burstein is Academic Director at Books@Work, a public humanities nonprofit organization. Dr. Burstein previously served as a Research Associate at the New America Foundation’s California Civic Innovation Project. In her role at the New America Foundation, she studied perceptions of innovation among government staffers, knowledge and innovation diffusion, and civic innovation theory and practice at the local level.