Marci Harris

Marci Harris is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and civic technology pioneer known as the co-founder and CEO of POPVOX, Inc. and the executive director of the nonprofit POPVOX Foundation. POPVOX is a civic engagement platform designed to empower individuals and improve government effectiveness. The platform has delivered millions of verified constituent messages to Congress through its neutral, transparent online system and has cataloged the policy positions of thousands of advocacy organizations. Harris combines legal expertise, legislative experience, and entrepreneurial skills in her work at the intersection of technology and democracy.

Harris’s career in civic technology is rooted in a background in public service. Her policy work led her to law school and eventually to Congress, where she covered tax, trade, and health for a senior Ways and Means Committee member and served as the committee lead on transparency and anti-fraud measures for the Affordable Care Act. In Congress, Harris identified a lack of tools to help staffers manage the growing volume of information from constituents and advocacy groups, which inspired the creation of POPVOX. After leaving her position as a congressional staffer, Harris co-founded POPVOX with Radha Choudhry. She often describes her early experience as a "first startup was a town," referencing her role as Tornado Recovery Coordinator for Jackson, Tennessee, following a tornado that devastated the city’s downtown and nearby residential areas. She facilitated a city-wide participatory process to incorporate public input into a redevelopment plan, including the largest FEMA hazard mitigation project in Tennessee history to relocate floodplain residents.

Harris’s work has been recognized across the technology, business, and civic sectors. POPVOX won the social media category of the SxSW Accelerator competition and was featured in the documentary "Ctrl+Alt+Compete." Harris was named one of Fast Company’s "Top 100 Most Creative People in Business," received a Tribeca Film Festival Award for Creative Disruption, and was listed as one of D.C.'s "Tech Titans" by Washingtonian Magazine. She was also recognized as a Fastcase 50 honoree and a Digital Citizen of the Year. Her commitment to community-centered recovery extended internationally, leading a team with the People-Centered Internet to develop recovery recommendations for the government of Puerto Rico.

A recognized voice on legislative modernization and civic technology, Harris has contributed to shaping how Congress engages with technology. She co-wrote "Tech and Innovation" recommendations for the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress as a member of the American Political Science Association's Presidential Task Force on Congressional Reform and has testified before the Select Committee. She also co-authored the first survey of global legislatures' adoption of artificial intelligence and generative AI. Harris serves on the board of the People-Centered Internet, co-founded by Vint Cerf, and the American Political Science Association's Technology and Innovation Task Force on the Modernization of Congress.

In addition to her leadership roles, Harris is an educator and scholar. She has taught public policy, government, and civic technology courses at University of San Francisco, San Jose State University, and University of California Berkeley. She has held fellowships with Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democracy and New America Foundation. Harris holds a B.A. in international relations from Franklin University in Lugano, Switzerland, a J.D. from University of Memphis, and an LL.M. from American University Washington College of Law, providing a multidisciplinary foundation for her work in reimagining the relationship between citizens and government.