16 Influencers for Government Innovators to Follow in 2020.

Recently, Phil Goldstein’s article, “30 Federal IT Influencers Worth A Follow in 2019” popped up on my Twitter feed. Where anything else Phil has written, or other DC influencers have weighed in, or awards gifted would have been a regular day, the modern’ness of his story caught me by surprise.

Even as I write this I haven’t done the research to know if this is an annual thing you’ve done, Phil, or if this is the first year you think it’s worth doing. But regardless, I applaud it – and had to give you this opening paragraph as a thank you for the inspiration.

I’m interested in the federal space, as anyone who’s watched my transition to this space happen slowly and then suddenly, over the past three years. So I had to click and see who he selected for this 30-person list.

I’m not in disagreement with this list. It’s a good one. I was introduced to some accounts I hadn’t run into in the past, and found some of my government-type heroes hidden in the ranks here too. But I did notice that it didn’t account for the mavericks, the noise makers, the ones who don’t get the gold-embossed invitations to the galas or the award ceremonies (though to be fair, many mentioned below do get the invites). Perhaps because some of them aren’t even labeled by name (as you’ll see a few below) and perhaps because they’re just too unpolished or distracted by real work or haven’t climbed at the pace of the list that Phil gives us. No matter, it was still a healthy list, and my intention in this post is to make sure you saw the original. And hopefully this one will pique your interest too.

The #miltwitter most of all, venture, startup and government (I’m noticing very specifically city and law enforcement especially) is at a growing growl right now. A really healthy one, I think. It’s reflective of the action that’s happening in government. The good action.

Government is the next disruption.

Twitter is where it’s coming alive.

Save for some weekend angst and juvenile hilarity that spreads like wildfire on particularly frustrating weeks, there is a tribe that has something to say, and they’re (we’re?) all finding each other and collaboratively engaging in conversations about EVERYTHING, all the time. There are no public affairs offices managing the #miltwitter or the startup ecosystems on this platform, and that’s what we probably love most about it. Yes, you’re in charge of your reputation and your personal brand, and you must embrace the perception that rises from that. But if you’re wanting to form real relationships in a quirky space like Twitter, that’s how it goes.

I can promise you, you cannot be fired for creating a hashtag. I tried it. You can’t be fired for having a well-thought out LinkedIn profile. You can’t be fired for networking. You can’t even be fired for liking something. If you compile all of these media freedoms up, you’ll be thrilled to know, you actually have a greater voice than a vote, if you use Twitter the way disruptors do. Even more of a voice if you’re employed by our government.

If you haven’t “figured out Twitter yet” or “don’t get the purpose of it,” I’d encourage you to hang in there. Yes, everyone speaks a bit of a different language and yes there are some nutty folks on there, but if you lean into it, you’ll meet some cool people and learn a lot. It’s only getting better as more and more individuals who care a lot, and have a lot to say, who never bothered with Twitter in the past are stepping onto the platform. They’re not just pushing out noise and formalities, not seeking to be “influencers” in the slightest, they’re engaging in conversation, friendly banter, and IRL (in real life) engagements together. It’s a pretty cool time to be someone who cares about being part of powerful discussions and change, in any industry, especially the government space.

I joined Twitter in October 2009, and I notice Phil is just over a year more tenured than me in this place, so since he’s more expert than me on this, I’m not correcting his list, I’m enhancing it. I wanted to tag his post and join him in introducing you all to more personalities I think are worth knowing and expanding your knowledge base on all things that do, could, should matter to government innovators.

Some folks on my list you might already know and follow, or intentionally avoid, some you haven’t heard of until today. All are individuals I personally enjoy following to elevate my own knowledge, awareness and exposure into not just the federal space, but also people/accounts that I think will help pull you out of the echo chamber we all accidentally find ourselves in a bit too often.

And remember this is a list compiled by just me, so you may have others that inspire, challenge, humor and educate you. Tag them and let us all know about them.

Here are “16 Influencers for Government Innovators to Follow on Twitter in 2020.”

Dave Copps – This guy has done a lot of things in his life, but what makes him special beyond this entire list, is that he’s died twice. The second time, he showed up ready to be a value add to every human and organization he encountered ever since. A friend, a mentor, a sage, and someone you definitely want to be stranded on an island with at some point – do yourself a favor and lean into the CEO of Sensory Sciences, a Hypergiant Company.

Doctrine Man – I don’t even feel qualified to explain this Twitter account, I’ve just learned a lot from his sharing and broad range of discussions that light from his profile. I feel like “he’s” a combination of everyone’s logical Dad, the Hill (on a good day) and the stoic wisdom guy at the end of the bar who gives you the advice that you never forget, but changes your life forever. Then he throws a $50 bill on the bar, buys your whiskey, and you never see him again. Only you will, the next day, where he pops up with more things to care about other than ourselves.

Zachary Tyson Brown – I met Zachary on Twitter, in real life. He is who he says he is. He reads the absurd amount that he says he does. And he writes as often as he claims. He is, the real deal. You’ll get a heavy dose of IC (intelligence community) references in his writing and in his headlines, but if you’re a good entrepreneur or venture-type, you’ll pull the curtains back and realize that he’s actually talking about the entire government. And anyone at a solid Fortune 500 organization, if dared to click his posts, could translate their own situation in his writing. This is an intelligence community guy blossoming into the industry space, and I highly recommend you follow him. Still, I have no idea how he finds so much time to read and write, surrounded by cats.

Joshua Baer – Every day of the week, the founder of Capital Factory, Josh Baer, is a freaking value add to the venture capital and startup ecosystems of Texas (duh) and thanks to the Army and some fortuitous conversations, good timing and spectacular organizational structure, he has gone head first into the government space this year. You’ll get tons of great shares, musings and reminders of where to be and when, if you want to plug into Texas. Josh and his great team even served as the first location for our GovCity Series at SXSW 2019, true to his Twitter headline. If you call me to take you on a tour through Texas, there’s a good chance that Josh, or one of the rockstars over at Capital Factory, will land on our itinerary.

The Pulse – Oh the sass behind this account pays for itself in eyeball capital. I love the Pulse! You have to meet them to appreciate the character behind this Twitter account, but if you can’t meet them, then just appreciate the value and candor you’ll receive as a follower of this one. This account has two female founders behind it, both with great stories, badass grit and beautiful gowns (when the occasion requires it). The Pulse is a great starting point if you’re just getting into the government space and you need to read real English (i.e. not government wording) and you wish to understand opportunities and contracts. Following this Twitter account will, every so often, give you some juicy watercooler wins, and the rest of the time, no nonsense FYI’s on contracts that are out there waiting for someone to just grab them up. Follow them.

Aaron Boyd – So this guy has an office in the Watergate building. For DC folks, that might mean it’s more convenient for traffic purposes, but for the rest of the world, I mean. Yeah. If anyone is going to have the skinny, you better believe it’s Aaron and the Rockstar team that envelops him. True, he looks serious in his picture, but he’s charming in real life, and disarming in person, which is perhaps his greatest skill. Find yourself interesting enough and slide into the interviewee seat at the Watergate and settle in for a discussion with the editorial team @NextGov and you’ll be hooked on this entire team. You’ll wonder why you aren’t invited to Thanksgiving with them, they’re that f*cking cool. Here’s me gratuitously linking my discussion with Aaron into this conversation, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant to this post – they chase the story. And frankly, if you’re reading this sentence, then they interviewed the right person, yeah?

Aaron is the hunter of information. If you have it, he wants it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Liza Donnelly - What are you DOING WITH YOUR LIFE if you do not follow the incredible Liza Donnelly. To be fair, I didn’t know she was the brilliant human behind all of the New Yorker’s coolest cartoons, but she is. There, you know the secret now. And I didn’t know how much of a cool kid she was until she showed up to sit in the audience of a panel that consisted of me, John Fremont, Sir Richard Garriott and Bill Nye. She went to high school with Bill Nye, and because she’s such a good friend, she showed up. To this day, she has absolutely no idea that the cartoon she drew of me and these guys is one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever gotten. Thanks, Liza. Bonus, she will wish you a good morning…every morning. Go get you some good vibes people.

Adam Grant – One random day when I was working for Homeland Security, I took a risk and privately Tweeted Adam Grant, asking him to share some pointers for an upcoming lecture I was giving to a law enforcement agency – shockingly, he replied – with great information, which I used! Adam is my age, and he’s running circles around me (it’s not a competition but it is), with so many claims to fame it’s hard to count, including being the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School and author of who knows how many books (Amazon will confirm for you). I first found him when I stumbled upon a still favorite book of his, Deep Work (bet you can’t guess how many conference calls we’ve been on together where I’m actually hiking in the woods or urban exploring). I purchased his book, Originals, as soon as it was released but it was immediately irrelevant to me. It was so…normal. Pro tip, if you want to understand the disruptor in your life or your office, purchase Originals and follow Adam. Tell him I said hey.

Nir Eyal – Nir first landed on my radar via a podcast interview, perhaps on Joe Rogan, maybe somewhere else. But regardless, I purchased his Indistractable book and became a massive fan. If you have children, you need to do yourself a favor and buy that book, and study up. If you still love your ADD but can’t master it, you’ll also love this. Nir brings such a strange and refreshing view of our addictions to digital media, you can’t help but just lean right in. I leaned so far in, I promptly quit Facebook (no, really, I did) as I neared the end of his book. You will learn exactly why gaming, late nights, social media, even certain people and relationships, have found their way into the consistency of your life. Could you cut your favorite vice out of your life for a month? Yes. Will you? That’s on you.

Chris Dancy – Buckle up. That’s all I have to say. Do you need a red-headed compassionately opinionated cyber mirror in your life? Then follow Chris. According to Tech Crunch, he’s the “world’s most connected man,” and according to me now that I will bravely call him a friend, he’ll help you embrace technology while preserving your humanity. You’re welcome for introducing you to one hell of a character --- he’s practicing Buddhist, joyful, frustrated, spiritually empowering, globally informative and fiercely accountable cyber human. You’re going to love hating Chris, and you’ll also adore him. If you decide you want to hang out with him, I insist you invite me. I need more of him in my life. You do too.

Michael Seibel – Michael Seibel, partner of Y Combinator (one of the nation’s top accelerators), has some of the most interesting and thought-provoking lengthy threads on the Tweets right now. So you’re watching the federal OTA (other transaction authority), startup and venture activities happening in and around the government and you wish you knew more about that weird world out there in Silicon Valley? Here’s an excellent 101 for you. He gets into the weeds at times about specifics in applying to their world-renown accelerator, @Ycombinator, but that’s a good thing. Find out what due diligence is like, what a good or promising startup goes through when they’re not pitching you at your agency, and just generally, see how the others live and think.

MatthewJDowd – Don’t get on me about being partisan on this one. Just scope out Chief Political Analyst over at @AbcNews, Matthew Dowd, and make your own determinations I love the content he shares, I like the fresh air that sweeps in when reading one of his posts, I appreciate that regardless of who you are and where you are and when it’s written, if it matters to making the world better and Matthew thinks its worth it, he’s going to tweet you back. Go for it, young grasshopper, tweet this guy. Unlike other political types, he’s not abrasive, it’s not controversial, it’s a disarming dose of “we’re all in this together,” and right now, I think we need it.

@ArlanWasHere – If you don’t know her, you’re not fully and deeply plugged into the realities and the fierceness of the diversity movement. That’s not to say you haven’t tried, you just actually have no clue how seriously tough it is to be a woman…oh wait, a black woman…in venture capital. I can’t even imagine, and I could write a book on the struggle of being a woman entrepreneur by myself. If you follow Arlan, she’s going to say some things that ruffle your feathers, open your eyes, and twist your brain. If you can appreciate hard work, then you’ll appreciate her. As one of the most influential black venture capitalists and female —- wait wait, let me write that sentence again —- as one of the most influential venture capitalists right now, you’re not only going to see what swanky first class travel looks like for her and her relatives as they traverse the globe, you’re also going to get sobering grit, heartwarming and heartbreaking reality doses through her words. The journey of a diverse winner is one that every single future leader should follow. If you dream of being a leader in any organization and you don’t have someone like Arlan in your social media feed, you are doing it wrong.

TheWTFNation – It would be irresponsible of me and nearly traitorous to my fellow #disruptors not to include this one. The U.S. Army WTF! Moments account will have you rolling in laughter, unless you’re responsible for one of the fumbles highlighted on this feed, or a victim of the reports this account will share to the entire world. Want to REALLY know what our government employees live everyday? Go to this account, but make sure you’ve cleared enough space on your desk to beat your head on the table, because you’ll need it. Even then, you’ll probably laugh. For those of you reading this who aren’t involved in government in any way, here’s your peek into the frustrations and daily life of a civil servant. It’s raw, hilarious, disturbing, eye-opening, and hopefully it reminds all of us that in the government somewhere, at every moment, someone is experiencing a face palm. Maybe one day it will shape policy. It should.

Michael Kanaan – The business of artificial intelligence isn’t new to the government. No, the Army (and many others we can’t discuss) have been tangling with AI long before the mass knew it existed. But that doesn’t make our responsibility to understand it any less important. If you are interested in this topic, and you’re interested in specific areas of the government that spend their all day every day thinking about artificial intelligence, and even what it means on the battlefield, then you’ll find the shares and commentary from Michael pretty damn fascinating. Scope out the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (@DODJaic) too, sometimes they’ll have something interesting on the Twitter for you. I have a lot of love for those guys and the magnitude of the tasks in front of them. Thanks to Brinker, AT&T, Southern Methodist University (special shout to the Darwin Deason Institute of Cyber Security), and of course Capital Factory and the great startup ecosystem in Dallas, Texas, recently who hosted us all for a tour, especially Old Parkland, you know who you are, Will.

@NASA_Johnson – If you remember the day that #Oppy the Mars Rover died, and its last words, “My batteries are getting low and it’s getting dark,” (I’m not crying, you’re crying), you’ll remember the NASA accounts that honored this special bot with some powerful social media’ing. Who knew a Twitter account for a federal agency could make you cry? I mean, asking for a friend. Follow this and other NASA accounts for just some feel good out-of-this-world cool sh*t. Sometimes you just need to look at a photo of Mars or the moon and remember our problems down here on earth are just a speck of what’s really going on in the galaxy.

I’m adding a special shout out here to the honorable mentions. Let’s give our Chief Contracting Superman, Ben McMartin, a shout out here. We can’t give him a direct link because he’ll mistakenly think he’s mastered Twitter and he’s got a ways to go, right? Then there’s you, #MilTwitter. There are too many of you to give you each a line, but here’s a high five for keeping it real, hilarious, and not so serious. Mother of Tanks, Angry Staff Officer, GI. James, Ghost Host, RHB, Maggie Caroline, Kera, Not an LT or a Tanker, Kathleen Delano, Maggie Seymour. I see you.

A toast to the mission. Have a great night, all.