Closing: Acknowledgements, What's Next + Meet The Opportunity Project team!

Drew Zachary is Managing Director of Census Open Innovation Labs and Director/Co-founder of The Opportunity Project at the US Census Bureau. Previously, Drew was a Policy Advisor at the White House Domestic Policy Council, senior analyst at the US Department of Commerce Data Service, and worked in health technology R&D. Drew holds an MPP from Johns Hopkins University and is a PhD candidate in social policy at Brandeis University. She has been recognized as one of the world’s 100 most influential young people in government for 2018 by Apolitical, one of 20 rising stars by FCW/GCN’s Government Innovation Awards 2018, and a Federal 100 winner by FCW in 2019.

Lorena Molina-Irizarry serves as Director of Operations of the Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL), at the U.S. Census Bureau— bringing together technologists, government and communities through tech collaborations, tapping into the power of open data for good. In this capacity she also managed strategic partnerships with Big Tech companies, media, entertainment and civic-tech organizations to protect the integrity of the 2020 Census. Previously, she served as the Deputy Chief of National Partnerships, setting up the infrastructure for engaging and collaborating with national and local partners in industry, tech community and the third sector to increase data use and awareness, and the importance of the 2020 Census as the cornerstone of our democracy. She previously served as the Technology Communications Liaison for the CIO, leading technology and innovation communications efforts for the Census Bureau. She has been instrumental in developing and implementing enterprise innovation strategy, strategic workforce planning initiatives and civic digital talent pipelines for government.

Dominica Zhu is a multidimensional professional with a uniquely diverse and culturally dynamic background. She is currently the Lead Program Manager and Impact Strategist for Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL), a small and nimble team within the U.S. Census. Bureau; a team that is pioneering innovation in civic technology and partnerships. 

 Prior to this role, Dominica has worked as a global development professional for over seven years. She focuses in the fields of health, human rights, social entrepreneurship, and protecting indigenous wisdom. Her most recent projects include countering human trafficking with technology in Southeast Asia in partnership with USAID, driving and supporting multinational technology companies to enter frontier markets, and developing models to preserve ancient knowledge in Sri Lanka and Africa. 

In her personal time, Dominica follows her family ancestral bloodline of healing and holistic medicine, working with practitioners in this field to create wellness for others. She is a Certified Health Coach and nutritionist. In addition, she is the founder of a project entitled Global Wisdom Collective, that is focused on uniting and preserving indigenous wisdom on the African and Asian continent.