Marci Harris
 | This article contains promotional content. (October 2021) |
Marci Harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 22, 1974 Tennessee, U.S. |
| Education | Franklin University Switzerland (BA) University of Memphis (JD) American University (LLM) |
| Occupation(s) | business executive, lawyer |
Marci Dale Harris[1] (born December 22, 1974)[2] is an American lawyer and former congressional staffer. She is also the CEO and co-founder of POPVOX, an online platform that connects voters with lawmakers.[3]
Early life
[edit]Harris was born in Tennessee and attended the Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis.[4] Her father owned a real estate company. In 1991, as a sophomore in high school, Harris moved to Australia for six months before returning to Memphis to finish her senior year of high school. She then traveled to Paraguay before enrolling in the Franklin School in Switzerland, graduating in 1997.[5][6]
Career
[edit]2007–2010: Congress
[edit]After receiving a J.D. degree from the University of Memphis[7] and then a master of law from American University in 2007, Harris went on to work in the United States Congress as a congressional staffer for three years, focusing on health care reform.[8] She became the Tax, Trade, and Health Counsel to Representative Pete Stark of California's 13th congressional district, and oversaw the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee in the areas of Medicare program integrity and transparency.[9]
2010–present: POPVOX
[edit]Harris reportedly had the idea for POPVOX while working for Pete Stark, noticing that members Congress often received a large amount of input from the public, but oftentimes failed to organize it efficiently enough to employ it constructively.[10] After leaving her position as a congressional staffer in 2010, Marci co-founded POPVOX with Radha Chaudhry. The website contains public information about bills that are introduced in Congress. Advocacy organizations can register for a profile on the website and include their positions on certain bills, stating whether they support them or oppose them.[11] The website won the SxSW BizSpark Accelerator startup competition in 2011 and was named one of the Top Open Government Websites by Read Write Web.[9]
In addition to running POPVOX, Marci has served on the board of LaunchTN, an organization aimed at fostering entrepreneurship in Tennessee.[12] Additionally, she mentors at Code for America Accelerator in San Francisco, California.[13]
She has employed the help of her brother, who serves as COO of the website.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ The University of Memphis Winter Convocation of the Ninety-Fifth Commencement, December 16, 2006
- ^ United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (Tennessee, Massachusetts, 1993-2001)
- ^ Tieu, Annie (30 October 2016). "New online platform connects voters with lawmakers". utdailybacon.com. UT Daily Bacon. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "History of Lausanne". lausanneschool.com. Collegio Del Mundo. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Marci Dale". LinkedIn.com. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Marci Harris, Popvox, Woman Entrepreneur". gothamgal.com. Gotham Gal 2016. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Marci Harris, J.D., LL.M." medium.com. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
- ^ Mukau, Leslie (2009). "American Health Care in Crisis: Fundamentals of Health Care Reform" (PDF). American Journal of Clinical Medicine. Six: 33–46.
- ^ a b "Marci Harris". personaldemocracy.com. Personal Democracy Media Beta. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ Overly, Steven (18 June 2015). "Hill staffers launch new lives as tech entrepreneurs". washingtonpost.com. WP Company LLC. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Welcome to Popvox". popvox.com. 2016 Popvox. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ Harris, Marci. "Our People: Marci Harris". www.newamerica.org. New America. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ Technology and Democracy Fellow (2015). "Marci Harris". ash.harvard.edu. The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Marci Harris, Popvox, Woman Entrepreneur". gothamgal.com. Gotham Gal. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2016.