Pahlka founded Code for America, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that aims to make government for all people.

[5] According to the Washington Post it "is the technology world's equivalent of the Peace Corps or Teach for America… [offering] an alternative to the old, broken path of government IT.

"[10] Federal CTO Todd Park originally tried to recruit Pahlka to run the Presidential Innovation Fellows, a program loosely modeled on Code for America.

She set in motion the creation of the United States Digital Service within the Executive Office of the President.

[12] In March 2020, Pahlka co-founded United States Digital Response, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization to provide technology volunteers to state and local governments whose systems were unable to respond adequately to the new demands put on them by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[15] Among the problems uncovered by the Strike Team was that poorly designed and outdated fraud protection techniques were denying benefits to millions.

[16] Pahlka is also a co-founder, with Sabrina Merlo and Corey Weinstein, of the East Bay Mini Maker Faire.

[17] In comments to The Huffington Post, she made explicit the connection between her work on open government and the Maker movement, saying, "There is a certain generation who have grown up being able to mash up, to tinker with, every system they've ever encountered.

[18] She was a celebrity judge for the Federal Communications Commission's Apps for Community contest, along with Marc Andreessen and Newark Mayor Cory Booker.