Code for America recruits talented web developers, designers, and entrepreneurs through its fellowship program to leverage the power of the internet to make governments more open and efficient. Fellows are competitively selected and are paid to work on innovative tech projects in cities such as Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington DC, and Boston. In doing so, they become civic leaders able to realize transformational change in government with technology.

In January, the fellows receive a one month orientation program at CfA’s Bay Area headquarters, including a guest speaker series with leaders in both government and the web industry. In February, fellows will be embedded on-site in their assigned cities, working with city officials hands-on to understand their needs and develop the project. See the 2011 11-month program schedule. Fellows receive a stipend of $35,000, travel expenses, and healthcare benefits.

Jennifer Pahlka, Executive Director of CfA, wrote:

“Our fellows are trained to ask questions first, code later. Throughout the year our teams in Seattle and Philadelphia conducted extensive, on-the-ground user research, developing a deep understanding of how to empower local civic leaders. What they learned was that there was a great amount of energy and enthusiasm in both cities for civic participation, but they lacked some modern tools to turn those ideas into action.” Read more.

Sounds very cool to us. We hope there will be a Code for New Zealand one day!