Cori Zarek (she/her)

Cori Zarek is a lawyer, technologist, and civic entrepreneur with expertise in tech policy, civic tech, digital rights, open government, access to information, and press freedom. Throughout her career, she has been drawn to public service and leading teams to carry out missions in the public good. She has co-founded civic tech organizations and built and led teams inside and outside of government. She was recognized in the 2024 Federal 100 list of top leaders in federal information technology.

Currently, Cori serves as Vice President for North America at Apolitical, which strategically partners with governments on learning opportunities and to build connectivity on a key issues including AI, climate, and digital delivery.

Most recently, Cori served as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service, the 200+ person technology team based at the White House that partners with agencies to implement policies and programs through design and technology. Previously, Cori served as Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and led the U.S. government's open government and open data efforts. She has advised governments around the world on data, digital services, and access to information. 

Outside of government, Cori has been on the faculty at Georgetown University and served as Executive Director of Georgetown's Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, a 50-person applied research center that uses data and technology to improve public systems. Cori also held roles with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Mozilla Foundation, and Code for America. In recent years, Cori co-founded civic tech organizations including U.S. Digital Response which pairs pro bono technologists with governments for emergency support, Technologists for the Public Good which is the first professional association for the field of public interest technology, and the Judicial Innovation Fellowship which partners technologists with state courts to improve access to justice with data and design.

In 2016, Cori was inducted into the U.S. Freedom of Information Hall of Fame. She is on the advisory council for the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law and the advisory board for the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. 

Cori holds a B.A. and J.D from the University of Iowa and was named its Distinguished Young Alumna in 2020. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois and before the Supreme Court of the United States. She has taught First Amendment law since 2007 and currently teaches Data for Social Impact at Georgetown.