This project was convened by CivStart and conducted by dedicated volunteers from across many sectors of government technology. Each strategy identified aims to help local governments be more inclusive with their support for underrepresented entrepreneurs — particularly in the broad sector of government technology (or govtech).
Local governments are charged with meeting the challenges of their diverse communities, and who better to meet those challenges than the entrepreneurs who come from them. Being more able to partner and work with govtech startups means better service provision and often much more affordable solutions meeting more specific needs of each government and each community.
Inclusive Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship means new, high-paying jobs in the local communities they come from. And underrepresented entrepreneurship means new ideas and creative approaches to both new and old problems. Local governments, by encouraging the growth of the government technology ecosystem stand to benefit the operations of their government, their diverse group of community entrepreneurs, and local governments across the country that may benefit from their local innovations and lessons learned.
A Diverse Task Force
This set of strategies and the examples came out of six lengthy group conversations among a Task Force assembled by CivStart. The conversations were informed by a preliminary report prepared by CivStart and background research and knowledge Task Force participants brought to each conversation. The conversations were organized by the different actors in the govtech entrepreneurial ecosystem: local governments, investors, accelerators, established companies, nonprofits, foundations and research institutions, and finally, startups themselves. We asked of each actor, what they could do to better grow and support more underrepresented entrepreneurs in the govtech ecosystem.
The Task Force membership included members from each of the actors we discussed, former and current local government officials, and others knowledgeable about the govtech community, with a focus on representation across gender, racial, and other demographics participating in the conversations.
Facilitated by Jennifer Bradley, Director of the Center for Urban Innovation at The Aspen Institute
Facilitated by Commissioner Chris Rogers \ Commissioner of Douglas County, Nebraska
Alejandro Manzanares \City Solutions Program Manager at National League of Cities
Juliana Meija \ Founder & CEO at Street Entrepreneurs
Judi Lynn Brown \ Founder and Chief Impact Officer at Civic Makers
Bill Eger \ Energy Manager at the City of Alexandria, Virginia
Kristina Francis \ Principal at the Marathon Fund
Niles Friedman \ Executive Advisor, Star Insights
Elle Hempen \ CEO at The Atlas for cities
Stacey Jackson \ Global Business Development Manager, VCs and Startups at Amazon Web Services
John Katt \ Director of Technology, Development & Data in the Office of the New York City Public Advocate, NYC
Laura Naramore \ Director of Public Sector at The MITRE Corporation
Brian Purchia \ Founder and CEO of Riff City Strategies
Dara Macan \ Director of Global Business Development at SourceLink
Kristoffer Adams \ Policy Advisor for the state of Illinois
Convened by Anthony Jamison, Nick Lyell, and Sarah Kerner \ CivStart
Help us build Version 2.0
In the spirit of innovation, this is just Version 1.0. We will continue to update it as we encounter new examples, see these strategies tested, and learn more about what works and what doesn’t.
There are many ways to contribute. We are especially interested in those willing to take action:
- Action – We need members of the govtech community who are interested in putting some of these strategies into practice.
- Support – There are still more strategies and research that can be uncovered with funding to hire a research assistant for this project.
- Ideas – This project still needs more ideas, case studies, and refinements from people across the govtech community.
Want to contribute or have a question? Use the form below to reach out.