Announcing our 2019 Congressional Innovation Scholars

We are thrilled to announce our 2019 Congressional Innovation Scholars!

This year’s Scholars class was the result of outreach to nearly 200 universities and university faculty. Over 100 students applied across a broad set of disciplines, including computer science, informatics, engineering, data science and other degree programs.

scholars.jpg

Joshua and Katerina will start their fellowship with an in-depth orientation program on Monday, June 10. Following orientation, they’ll spend two to three weeks finding a placement with a Member of Congress or Congressional Committee that is aligned with their interests and expertise.

We couldn’t be more excited to grow the Scholars program and welcome them to Washington! You can read more about Joshua and Katerina below.

Joshua Vasko is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University receiving his Masters in Information Security Policy and Management. During his time at CMU, he spent time working at the Software Engineering Institute researching insider threats in addition to studying tech policy and risk. As a recent graduate, Vasko spent time pursuing coursework concerning the effect of technology on the domains of security, healthcare, and privacy.

Katerina Sedova is a mid-career technologist who recently graduated from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, where she focused on issues at the intersection of diplomacy, cybersecurity, countering emerging threats in the digital domain with regional expertise on Russia, Ukraine, and NATO strategy. Prior to graduate school, Katerina had a thirteen-year career as senior engineering manager on the networking, security, privacy, and performance layers of the internet browsing platform at the Microsoft Corporation.