Victoria Houed is an engineer turned policy entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to improving the tech policy ecosystem and government modernization. She is currently the Director of AI Policy and Strategy at the U.S. Department of Commerce and senior advisor at the POPVOX Foundation. She was previously a manager at Schmidt Futures where she funded key science and technology policy initiatives and educated relevant stakeholders on how to best advocate for their policy ideas in the legislative and executive branches.
Before joining Schmidt Futures, Victoria worked as a TechCongress congressional innovation fellow for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi where she supported Pelosi during the COVID crisis on all things technology (including broadband, disinformation, antitrust and more). She started her career as a software engineer at Cards Against Humanity and founded BlackByte, a nonprofit for Black women in technology.
Other facts about Victoria:
- She was a Spring 2024 Fellow in Georgetown’s inaugural Tech and Public Policy Fellowship program
- She recently won Purdue University’s Rising Professional Award in 2023
- Purdue’s Boilers Go To DC Scholars program
- She is from Chicago, IL and very proud of it
Victoria’s Writing + Podcasts
Victoria’s Press + Awards
