Jessica Young first worked in government as a member of the Los Altos Youth Commission. This summer, the 2021 graduate of Los Altos High returned to government as a member of the X-Force Fellowship, an internship program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Security Innovation Network.
In her previous experience with the Youth Commission, she gave opinions on policy from a teen’s perspective. This time, Young, who is studying computer science at UC Berkeley, focused on research.
“It’s interesting to see how there are other facets of governmental work, such as research or technology-related things, which is what I’m particularly interested in,” she said.
The rising sophomore worked on a project that aims to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the modern, remote workplace. Emily Long, who manages the X-Force program, told the Town Crier that Young’s team is collecting psychometrics and cultural data and using machine learning to check platforms like Slack or email for bias.
Department of Defense partners “come to us with problems that we need solved and we match them with brilliant talent from our universities,” Long said.
For Young, the process of investigating DEI was exciting, as she said she found herself “treading new water” in a field with little existing research.
“Sometimes you feel like, at least for me, I feel like I don’t know what to do, I don’t know where I’m going,” she said. “I think that’s what makes it exciting for me.”
Young also found the fast pace and nonlinear path of her research challenging.
“Our research project has been … similar to a startup, where it’s super fast-paced, it’s always changing,” she said.
Both Young and Long were unable to provide specific details on her work, however, as the project is partially classified.
Young praised the speakers brought in to broaden the fellows’ perspectives on the scope of work going on within the government.
“I’ve met people who are working on GPS tracking, but then I’ve also met … someone else who’s working on DEI-related things,” she said. “It’s interesting, because normally I would assume that the government’s focusing a lot on technology, but there’s multiple facets.”
Young, who spoke to the Town Crier while at a symposium for her fellowship, said she and her team of three fellow interns planned to submit the technical report they produced to two conferences.
She shared one piece of advice for local students who might be interested in an X-Force Fellowship: Just get started on something.
“If you are interested in research or interested in coding … you don’t have to have an opportunity to be able to pursue that passion. … You can take up self-pursued projects,” she advised.
For more information on the X-Force program, visit nsin.mil/x-force.
