Julia is the supervising attorney of the Unemployment Compensation Unit at Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA), where she represents low-wage workers in unemployment matters. She has represented more than 800 clients and has an active appellate practice pursuing impact unemployment cases in Pennsylvania courts. Julia has won two cases in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Harmon v. UCBR, a statutory construction case that expanded the right to benefits for returning citizens; and Lowman v. UCBR, a groundbreaking case holding that an UberX driver worked in “employment” and was entitled to unemployment benefits. She also works closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry on system improvements and has testified by invitation before the Pennsylvania legislature many times on issues affecting her clients. Julia’s research and advocacy focuses on how technology can improve access to benefits and how to prevent harmful uses of automated decision-making in benefit programs. She was the co-principal investigator and author of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded report “Centering Workers - How to Modernize Unemployment Insurance Technology,” and serves by appointment on Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation Benefit Modernization Advisory Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia has spearheaded community outreach and education about unemployment programs in Pennsylvania, working closely with social service organizations, community groups, legal services organizations, and local officials to help tens of thousands of workers access benefits. She is frequently cited in media outlets across the country, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, NPR, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg News. Recently, Julia launched a statewide unemployment resource and self-help website, www.UCHelp.org. Before joining PLA, Julia clerked for the Honorable Norma L. Shapiro of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Julia has been named one of the American Bar Association’s “On the Rise: Top 40 Young Lawyers” and a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in Pennsylvania. In October 2021, she received the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) New Leaders in Advocacy Award. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Brandeis University.

Waldo Jaquith is a technologist with extensive experience in the government, non-profit, and for-profit sectors. He’s Government Delivery Manager at U.S. Digital Response and serves as a Senior Government Expert at the U.S. Treasury, in the position of Director of IT Procurement for the Inflation Reduction Act. He was most recently a presidential appointee at the U.S. General Services Administration, serving as Senior Advisor to the Administrator. He’s previously served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, at the Georgetown University’s Intergovernmental Software Collaborative, and at 18F, in each case developing and promoting best practices for government procurement of major software projects. Previously, Jaquith ran U.S. Open Data, and worked for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama. He’s had fellowships from both the Knight Foundation and the Shuttleworth Foundation. He lives near Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife and children.

Hannah Quay-de la Vallee is a Senior Technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology. While she brings her technical expertise to bear across CDT’s projects, she is primarily focused on the Equity in Civic Technology Project, dedicated to ensuring that education agencies and other civic institutions use data and technology responsibly while protecting the privacy and civil rights of individuals. Hannah received her PhD in computer science from Brown University in 2017. For her dissertation, she designed and built tools that help users better manage privacy on their mobile devices.