At the beginning of 2025, UC Berkeley’s School of Information and Goldman School of Public Policy announced the launch of the Executive Fellowship in Applied Technology Policy, a pioneering program designed to empower senior leaders at the intersection of technology and public policy. The eight-month non-residential fellowship sought to provide a dynamic platform for accomplished public sector technology leaders and distinguished academic thought leaders to reflect on their experiences, mentor the next generation, and document their contributions to digital transformation in government.
The fellowship was spearheaded by Professor Deirdre Mulligan, who recently served as Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Deputy Director for Technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Director of the National AI Initiative Office (2023-2024).
“By connecting experienced practitioners with Berkeley’s world-class faculty and students, we are fostering a powerful dialogue that will help ensure technology serves the public interest, even in this rapidly evolving technology and political landscape,” Mulligan said.
A number of the Executive Fellows are public servants, many of whom served in the previous administration — including Vera Zakem, former Chief Digital Democracy and Rights Officer at USAID and current California State Chief Technology Innovation Officer; Judy Brewer, former Assistant Director for Accessibility at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) ; Eric Hysen, former Chief Information Officer and Chief AI Officer at the Department of Homeland Security; and Arati Prabhakar, former Science and Technology Advisor to President Biden and Director of OSTP, and keynote speaker at the I School’s 2025 commencement ceremony.
Throughout the program, fellows participated in research, teaching, and high-impact meetings and events. Over the summer, they traveled to UC Berkeley and the larger Bay Area, or participated virtually, to attend a week of meetings with key California policymakers, Berkeley faculty members, and research centers at the forefront of tech policy. These meetings with state senators and assembly members allowed for productive conversations about priorities for tech policy regulations, including ways to ensure responsible use of AI and other automated decision systems, measures to curb the spread of disinformation and harmful content on social media, and efforts to upgrade safeguards protecting Californians’ data.
During a day trip to the state capital, Charlotte Burrows, former Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was invited to testify in the Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on Assembly Bill 1018 and in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on Senate Bill 7. Both bills sought to regulate the use of automated decision support systems in critical processes, including employment, and both were passed by their respective committees that day.
“It was an incredible experience to testify before the California legislature about civil rights issues that can arise from the use of AI in employment, and I was honored to meet some of the many workers concerned about this issue,” Burrows said.
The fellows later returned to UC Berkeley in October, where they hosted panels and workshops during UC Berkeley’s inaugural Tech Policy Week. Workshop topics throughout the week included “Strengthening Disability-Inclusive Technology Policymaking,” “Establishing AI Risk Thresholds and Red Lines: A Critical Global Policy Priority,” “Better, Bigger Ambitions for AI,” and more. In these sessions, they focused on key takeaways from their experiences in public service, including the importance of transparency, credibility, expertise, diversity, and innovation in the sector. The week later culminated in a Summit, which included panels that unpacked survey data on Californians’ attitudes toward technology and discussed the state’s recent legislative milestones.
As the program nears its end, fellows are completing culminating projects, including publishing research that reflects the lessons learned during their respective policy roles, developing websites, proposing public sector partnerships, and other creative outputs. Some of the forthcoming projects are co-authored with UC Berkeley graduate students and address critical issues in technology policy.
“The Fellows were full of praise for the students and faculty they worked with and uniformly expressed gratitude for Berkeley providing them the opportunity to reflect more deeply on their interests and expertise,” said Eric Meyer, Dean of the School of Information. “Berkeley was able to attract these absolute rockstars to campus, and our students and entire community benefited from their interactions.”
The inaugural cohort of Executive Fellows in Applied Technology Policy includes accomplished public sector technology policy leaders. Learn more about the fellows at our UC Berkeley Executive Fellowship in Applied Technology Policy program webpage.
