Meet The Geeks: The D.C. Tech Corps's Leading Edge

Here's why these techies chose to leave startups and top tech companies to serve the public good.

When President Dwight Eisenhower established NASA in 1958, he called on the country's top scientists to bring their talents to the government. At the time, outer space was still a vast, unexplored mystery, and by joining NASA, astronauts had the opportunity to discover the rest of the universe "for the benefit of all," to use the organization's motto.

Half a century later, when President Barack Obama was elected into office, he issued a similar call to America's scientists, but this time, there is a different mission at stake. Today's government scientists are tasked with deploying the latest technology to bring the government into the digital era, allowing it to more effectively deliver services to the American people.

A team of engineers, coders, and developers have answered his call, leaving startups and top technology companies across the country for new posts in Washington, D.C. When we asked members of the tech corp why they chose to make the switch from the private sector to the public sector, they explained that saw an opportunity to use their specialized skills to improve people's lives, from making Healthcare.gov as user-friendly as possible to ensuring that veterans receive support as soon as they need it...