Jennifer Pahlka is an American businesswoman and political advisor. She is the founder and former Executive Director of Code for America. She served as US Deputy Chief Technology Officer from June 2013 to June 2014 and helped found the United States Digital Service. Previously she had worked at CMP Media with various roles in the computer game industry. She was the co-chair and general manager of the Web 2.0 conferences. In June 2023, she released the book Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better.

Code for America is a 501(c)(3) civic tech non-profit organization that was founded by Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, "to promote ‘civic hacking’, and to bring 21st century technology to government." Federal, state, and local governments often lack the budget, expertise, and resources to efficiently deploy modern software. Code for America partners with governments to help deliver software services, particularly to low income communities and to people who have been left out. "A large population of American citizens in poverty are not connected and exposed to government resources that they are eligible for—nearly US$60,000,000,000 worth of potential benefits for people in need remain unclaimed every year." Projects that illustrate the organization's impact include:GetCalFresh – a portal to access food assistance programs in California that lowered the time to complete an application from 45 minutes to under 10 minutes. Users can access benefits from their mobile device and receive text message updates. MNBenefits – a site that allows Minnesota residents to apply for a range of benefits in English or Spanish. Residents can also upload documents and get help via a live chat feature. The site takes what is often an hour long paper process down to a 12 minute task. The work enabled $636 million in benefits for the state that would have otherwise been lost. Clear My Record – Software that analyzes large datasets of criminal records and pinpoint records eligible to eased or dismissed in states like California, Utah, Illinois. GetCTC – a streamlined filing tool that enabled low-income families to claim the Child Tax Credit and other tax benefits. GetYourRefund – an online service that allows taxpayers to access Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services virtually.