Blog Post
2023 Year in Review
Every year, the CivicMakers Team takes a look at what projects (both internal and external), people, and partners furthered our…
Category: CivicMakers Community
![An outtake from the team photo shoot. Everyone is lining up in front of a plant-filled background, getting ready for the group photo.]()
Blog Post
Looking forward to a year of growing momentum and continual change
As a new year opens up before us, the CivicMakers team is deeply grateful for all the plusses and deltas…
![CivicMakers team lunch Jan 2023]()
Blog Post
End of Year Reflection, 2022
It can be difficult to fit time for reflection and learning from our work into the day-to-day of running a…
![Mike, Judi, Leah, and Brit on a zoom call. All are smiling with the zoom filter of green sprouts coming from their heads.]()
Blog Post
Commitments to Inclusive & Accessible Learning Space
It’s been two years since we piloted our Learning Lab at the City of San José - how the time…
![A screenshot from Demo Day #5. On the right side is a column of participants on video while Kelli Parmley (Assistant Director Of Human Resources, City of San Jose) shares a slide. The slide is titled]()
Blog Post
Practicing Accessible Design in Community Development
How do communities design for accessibility? What can we learn from co-creating living spaces with people with disabilities and their…
![map of proposed site for project with labels]()
Blog Post
CivicMakers’ 2022 Team Retreat
Last week, we brought our team back together for the first CivicMakers retreat in over three years. In addition to…
![CivicMakers team sitting together around at table outdoors, about to eat lunch.]()
Blog Post
2021 Year in Review
The CivicMakers team is committed to continuously reflecting and learning from our work. For the past few years, we’ve tried…
![A screenshot of the team smiling on Zoom]()
Blog Post
A resource library for sharing our tools with you
To our community of civic designers–and our community members who don't yet see themselves as designers–we're excited to announce the…
![A series of 6 resources now available in the resource library]()
Blog Post
Our journey to a clarified vision and a new brand
We have a new website and a new logo. Those words feel REALLY good to say out loud! It's been…
![New-brand-website-blog-post]()
Blog Post
2020 Year in Review
2020 tested the resilience and reliability of human-centered processes. What does it look like when we can’t be together? What…
![]()
Blog Post
2019 Year in Review
2019 brought a number of exciting firsts for CivicMakers. We won our first city-wide strategic planning contract with the City…
![]()
Blog Post
One Civic Innovation Firm’s Reflections from the 2019 Code for America Summit
Last week, designers, technologists and public servants of all stripes descended on Oakland for the 2019 Code for America Summit. This…
![]()
Blog Post
2018 Year in Review
2018 was a rewarding and instructive year for CivicMakers. We worked with close to 20 state and local clients; expanded…
![]()
Blog Post
Trusting the process, and the people — Designing the Parks and Tech Challenge
Oftentimes, when deep into the design of a group process, I hit a point where the possibility of failure seems…
![Trusting the process, and the people — Designing the Parks and Tech Challenge]()
Blog Post
Reflecting and Looking Forward: Public Impact Design
What is the impact you’re trying to make? What is one way you’re trying to make that impact? In trying…
![]()
Blog Post
2017 Year in Review
There are many words we’ve heard used to encapsulate all that was 2017. Some of them are depressing, a few…
![]()
Blog Post
What is CivicMakers?
People still ask us “What is CivicMakers?” In many ways, we’re still asking that same question, but after the whirlwind…
![]()
Blog Post
Personal Democracy Forum 2016: Movements, Voices and Values
Last week I found myself back in New York City for another Personal Democracy Forum. This was my second in person,…
![]()
Blog Post
Moving Forward Through Feedback
We’ve been listening. A lot. From user interviews to our 2015 Year in Review survey, we’ve had a healthy obsession with…
![]()
Blog Post
#CivicTech Primer: Uncharted territory
In my last post, I shared some thoughts about “civic tech,” a new(ish) sector focused expressly on the public good. This definition…
![]()
Blog Post
Cities and Startups Building Solutions and Community, Together
Last Thursday was spectacular. To say that CivicMakers facilitated a training and hosted a happy hour is missing the point.…
![]()
Blog Post
#CivicTech Primer: What is “civic tech”?
Here in the Second Great Internet Bubble, we’ve come to accept Marc Andreessen’s maxim that “software is eating the world.”…
![]()
