Switchback Team

Alissa Black

Impact Advisor & Investor

James-Christian Blockwood

EVP, Partnership for Public Service

James-Christian Blockwood is currently Executive Vice President at the Partnership for Public Service.  He helps with overall strategy and management of the organization, and directly oversees its programs dedicated to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal government.  

He is passionate about serving others and his country. He is a former career member of the Senior Executive Service in the U.S. Government and has broad experience in leadership and management, strategic planning, national security and foreign affairs. 

He has helped transform and build new capabilities at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs as well as the Government Accountability Office.  

He is an Adjunct Professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Service, Inaugural Presidential Leadership Scholar, Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, a M.A. in Government from Johns Hopkins University, a M.S. of Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College, and B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University. 

Virginia Buckingham

Partner, Marblehead Current

Mindy Finn

CEO, Citizen Data

Mindy Finn is the CEO of Citizen Data, the independent data engine for democracy. She has led large-scale campaigns and initiatives to reduce polarization and improve elections throughout a 20-year career within Congress, presidential campaigns, and major tech companies. She’s now leveraging her multi-disciplinary experience to build Citizen, which is engineering data and marketing analytics solutions to bridge divides, counter disinformation, and protect democracy. 

In 2016, Finn went from operative to candidate when she ran on a presidential ticket with independent Evan McMullin, earning more write-ins than any single presidential campaign in history. 

Prior to Citizen, Finn served as co-founder and executive director of Stand Up Republic, led pioneering civic engagement programs at Google, Pew, Twitter, and Change.org, and worked on political campaigns including in senior roles for George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

Katie Harbath

Founder & CEO, Anchor Change

Katie Harbath is a global leader at the intersection of elections, democracy, and technology. As the chief executive of Anchor Change, she helps clients think through tech policy issues. She is a senior advisor for technology and democracy at the International Republican Institute and is also a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Integrity Institute and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. 

Previously, Katie spent 10 years at Facebook. As a director of public policy, she built and led global teams that managed elections and helped government and political figures use the social network to connect with their constituents.

Before Facebook, Katie held senior digital roles at the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the DCI Group, as well as multiple campaigns for office.

She is a board member at the National Conference on Citizenship, Democracy Works, R Street and the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Madison-Wisconsin.

Katie writes a weekly newsletter on Substack called Anchor Change. You can also https://twitter.com/katieharbath and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Robby Mook

Senior Fellow & Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School

Robby Mook is a nationally recognized political strategist and organizer. As a Senior Fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, Mook founded and co-directed the Defending Digital Democracy Project, a bipartisan collaboration of cybersecurity practitioners and local election officials to secure U.S. elections from cyber attacks and make democratic institutions more resilient from foreign manipulation. 

Prior, Mook served as Campaign Manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He also managed Terry McAuliffe’s successful campaign for Governor of Virginia in 2013 and Jeanne Shaheen’s successful campaign for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire in 2008.  Mook also led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2012. 

Julia Rhodes Davis

Chair, Vote.org

Julia Rhodes Davis is a veteran leader and an expert at the intersection of technology, democracy, and social justice. She is a recognized bridge-builder collaborating with advocates and tech developers, philanthropic and movement building communities, grassroots and grass-tops organizations. She is founding principal of Rhodes.Co, a values-driven consultancy that provides strategic engagement on AI governance and technology policy. 

Julia is Senior Advisor to Data & Society Research Institute on the Datafied State Initiative, is a producer for Acts of Reparation, a feature-length documentary film, and just wrapped up her final term as Chair of vote.org, the largest digital nonpartisan voter engagement platform in the U.S. Her work on technology policy has influenced organizations including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Port of Seattle, and the European Commission. 

As a writer and organizer, Julia explores questions of identity, humanity, and how to lead a life of integrity during this time of increasing social upheaval.

Sedale Turbovsky

CEO, OpenGrants

Sedale Turbovsky is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for building solutions in the public sector. He is the CEO and co-founder of OpenGrants, his fourth venture-backed startup and second in the public sector, which aims to transform the grant funding landscape by making it more accessible, equitable, and transparent. Sedale firmly believes that technology can be used as a powerful tool to democratize access to resources and opportunities, and is passionate about improving government and the citizen experience.

Prior to embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Sedale worked as a issues management consultant supporting firms working with government and in heavily regulated environments. He has a long history of leading successful teams, raising capital, and building startups. Sedale possesses a number of valuable superpowers which include networking, capital raising, no-code development, and early stage ideation.

Sedale's passion for solving difficult problems is evident in his work at OpenGrants. He recognizes that grant funding can be a powerful tool to support innovation and economic growth, but also acknowledges that the process of bringing change to the public sector is incredibly challenging. Apart from his work at OpenGrants, Sedale is an investor and advisor to a variety of startups. He is also heavily involved in the growing startup ecosystem in rural Northern California.