Second generation Code for America fellows benefit from example set by predecessors

For the second straight February, a pack of Code for America fellows is making its presence known throughout civic life in Philadelphia, particularly around technology, in a very simple way: showing up, a lot.

The three 2012 fellows dedicated to the City of Philadelphia — Michelle Lee, Alex Yule and Liz Hunt — only have a week left to learn the ins and outs of this local government and its citizen allies before they return to San Francisco for the rest of their fellowship, but lucky for them, their path has been paved before.

Philadelphia is the only city to host two generations of CfA fellows and so far, and the new fellows think the lineage has been an asset.

“Having an understanding of the players and bringing them into the same room has been an advantage as a second year city.” said Lee, who had lived in Philadelphia prior to becoming a fellow.

In Philadelphia, a city notorious for fierce loyalty to its own, that’s no surprise.

More city officials recognize the CFA program and how these fellows can be leveraged because its the second year, said Hunt. There is greater excitement about what can be accomplished and little obstacle for meetings and collaboration, added Yule, which he said is a credit to last year’s crew.

Watch a video on CFA in Philadelphia.

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For their part, the trio says they have been intent on meeting as many people as possible in order to inform the application-based projects they will design will improve some aspect of life in Philadelphia. The fellows joined Technically Philly to talk about their experiences in Philadelphia, but couldn’t say for sure what they planned to build.

Last year’s fellows created eight major projects, including the group’s signature project, Change by Us, a civic action crowdsourcing tool.

So, with big shoes to fill and nearly nine months of work ahead of them, how will the fellows know they’ve achieved the high standards set by the 2011 fellows?

“If [city leaders would] decide that they want Code for America back for a third year, that would be a really great indicator of success,” Hunt said.

Watch video from intern Matt Albasi following the interview.