Overview
The Fellowship partners talented teams of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs with change agents from local governments to address a range of civic challenges. Benefits to participation include:
- Catalyst for innovation
- New perspectives on issues your city is facing
- Products & interfaces that are simple, beautiful and easy to use
- Collaboration with a network of civic innovators and thought leaders
- Visibility on a national stage
The fellows commit to a year of service earning a living-wage stipend and move through the highly structured program using agile “Lean Startup” techniques to develop and implement web and mobile applications that show what’s possible, deeply engage citizens, and increase the transparency of government information and systems. Outcomes include increased civic engagement, strengthened relationships inside and outside of government, and technology tools and products targeted to a pressing issue your city is facing.
Know of another city doing great things? Let us know--we'll be sure to reach out to them?
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From Code for America we thought we’d just get some cool apps for our constituents, but we got so much more; new relationships in City Hall, new connections to the community, a platform for further innovation, and yes, even some great applications.
Nigel Jacob
City of Boston
Sample Focus Areas
Civic Infrastructure
Cities who open up data sets can fuel innovation and encourage the creation of new tools to enable civic infrastructure. Some of the tools our partners and fellows have created in this area include BlightStatus, Adopta, and LocalData.
Criminal Justice
This year two of our fellows teams (New York and Louisville) are focusing on Criminal Justice. Both teams will work to identify opportunities that enhance and improve the quality, consistency, and accuracy of pretrial justice data and evaluate data-driven strategies for reform.
Citizen Engagement
While opportunities for innovation vary from city to city, many fellowship teams work towards increased citizen engagement as one of their core outcomes. For example, Honolulu Answers generated web content for the city’s web site by engaging with citizens willing to lend a hand.
Code for America fellows have focused on many other areas and are open to working on a wide range of issues -- as long as it is one that your community really cares about. Other focus areas have included Health and Human Services, Disaster Relief, Procurement, Open 311 initiatives, Education, and more.
Check out our projects | 2012 Partners | 2013 Partners
Dates To Keep In Mind
2014 City Application Timeline
The application process for 2014 local government partners (cities and counties) is now open; interested government officials are encouraged to apply early and begin the conversation. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2013.
| January - March 2013 | City Application Period |
|---|---|
| March 31, 2013 | Deadline for Applications |
| April 2013 | City Applications Reviewed |
| May 2013 | CfA meets with cities to confirm support & funding |
| June 1, 2013 | City Finalists Announced (Rolling Acceptance) |
| October 2013 | Selected Cities Announced to the Press |
| January 2014 | New Class of Fellows Begin Program |
Our Partners
Cost
Code for America asks each city to fund the direct costs of the fellows—their stipend, benefits, and travel/lodging expenses. The average cost is $180K for a team of three, and most cities allocate these costs through a budget appropriation. We also ask each city to find matching funds of an equal amount to fund the fellows training, equipment, etc. These funds typically come from an institutional funder or local corporate sponsor. You can learn more about funding options and process on the CfA Funding FAQ.
Questions
Please check out our FAQ or contact Luke Norris, Director of Business Development, with any questions about the fellowship or the funding process.
cityrecruitment@codeforamerica.org
816.200.8925