Title:GTA Alumni Spotlight: Jon Berroya (C’98)

Meet Jon Berroya (C’98), Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google and GTA Board Member!

How did your time at Georgetown influence your career path in the tech industry?

In a lot of different ways, one of the huge benefits of an undergraduate education at Georgetown is the location. I was an American government major in the College, and was interested in finding internships that would help me get a better sense of what the day-to-day is like. There is no better place to be than Georgetown if you want hands-on opportunities to learn how different organizations interface with the government, how they try to influence the government, and how people develop deep expertise on different policy issues.

During the summer between my sophomore and junior years, I made the decision to stay in DC but I hadn’t lined up a job, so I ended up working for a temporary staffing agency. That meant from week to week, I didn’t know where I was going, who I might be working for, or what I might be doing. They would give me an address, and I would show up to stuff fundraising requests into envelopes, do basic clerical work, and even online “help wanted” ads for the Washington Post.

At some point that summer, the agency sent me to work for a nonprofit called the Benton Foundation, which focuses on public policy issues related to communication technology. I didn’t have a lot of exposure to those issues, but I’ve always been very interested in technology. Much of the Foundation’s work at that time centered around evaluating how organizations like schools and community organizations were using the internet to improve education, help people connect with one another, and use communication technology to support their communities. The foundation kept bringing me back for various jobs that summer, and by the end of August, they offered me a Fall internship. I didn’t know it at the time, but that internship wound up being the opportunity that sparked my interest in tech policy, and set me off on my current career path.

In addition to the Benton Foundation internship, I took a summer course on international law that, candidly, I was taking to boost my GPA after getting crushed by a 4-credit calculus course freshman year! For my final paper, I analyzed how developing internet technologies and policy were likely to intersect with international law, and I found the research really fascinating. It made me want to spend more time learning and thinking more deeply about what happens when the borderless nature of information collides with traditional notions of sovereignty. I’ve been really fortunate that those experiences – and just following my curiosity – helped me develop a career where I’ve spent the bulk of my time working on legal and policy issues related to tech.

How do you balance the fast pace of technology while recognizing that policy adaptation may not move at the same speed?

That’s probably the trickiest part of the job.

Technology is changing things in ways that are both predictable and

unpredictable. The challenge that policymakers face is trying to make sure they’re creating an environment that encourages innovation, while ensuring that products and services are safe for consumers and businesses. It’s critically important for policymakers and their teams to understand the practical application of different types of technology. What types of challenges can a particular tool help you solve? How can it be misused? What are some of the problematic ways people might use it? How might a proposed law be used to undermine the very outcomes it is intended to facilitate?

Policymakers working in the tech space have the un-enviable task of drafting unambiguous rules that govern globally scaled, rapidly evolving tools, in a way that balances a whole host of legal rights and societal needs. The answers are never simple. From my perspective, one of the most useful things we can do to support that work is help them understand the impact of a proposed law or regulation on policymakers’ own communities through real-world use cases, so the impacts are more tangible and less theoretical. Ultimately, if you’re going to regulate something effectively, it helps to have a nuanced understanding of how that thing works, and how real people, real businesses, and even other governments are using it.

What do you wish more people knew about the tech industry?

The thing that I love about working in this industry is that most of the people who work in tech really just want to create products and services that are beneficial in many ways, from helping people connect with one another, to giving people new ways to learn, and helping businesses scale and grow. One of the reasons I’m really glad that I ended up working at Google is because it’s truly a mission-focused company. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Since the company started, that’s been the foundation of everything the company does. We invest a tremendous amount of engineering time and financial resources into building and supporting projects intended to do some really inspiring things, like facilitate scientific research, measure and assist with the mitigation of air pollution, predict the impact and timing of floods and wildfires to help communities respond to disasters, and support multi-modal urban transportation.

The innovative, often service-oriented, nature of the work is the greatest thing about this industry. Being a Georgetown graduate, you lead with the “Men and Women for Others” ethos. You want to give back to the communities that are important to you. It’s great to be able to work for an industry and for companies that encourage their employees to be thoughtful and creative about using their technology, knowledge, and skills in service of the greater good.

What is your favorite app or website, and why?

I don’t want to sound like a total Google shill…so I’ll start with the fact that I’m a Spotify power user. I love Spotify, and I’ve been a premium subscriber since it arrived in the US, and I use it throughout the day, most days.

Having said that, Gemini is amazing. I have tens of thousands of unread emails in both my personal and my work inboxes, and I’ve recently built some Gemini-powered agents in the Google Workspace Studio that summarize news that I need to stay on top of, and even help me triage my massive email “debt.” One agent in particular scans my unread emails as they arrive, and will send me a brief chat message anytime an email is asking me to take an action or respond to a question. If the email is from certain people, like senior leaders within the company or collaborators on important projects, the agent will help me prioritize those as well. It was really easy to set up, and even though it’s a relatively simple agent, it’s been a lifesaver for somebody who is an email “triager” like me, and I’ve found it much more effective than using automated rules or labels to identify and deal with incoming messages.

What’s a piece of advice you would give to a Georgetown student that is interested in tech?

One of the greatest things about being at Georgetown is the alumni network. Anytime a current student or alum reaches out to have a conversation, I make the time to have that conversation. I think that’s a fairly common experience within the Georgetown community. Having conversations with – and drawing inspiration from – people who’ve walked down the paths I was heading towards, including founding GTA Board Member Mike Callahan, has been incredibly helpful as I’ve evaluated and navigated challenges and opportunities throughout my career.

At Georgetown, one of our greatest strengths is our community. If you’re not using Hoya Gateway yet, I would strongly encourage you to log in and reach out to alumni who are doing work that you think is interesting. You’ll find that we’re genuinely excited to hear from you, and eager to help however we can.

For more GTA Alumni Spotlights, click here.