So You Want to Submit a Summit Proposal…

A technologist, a policy expert, and a product designer walk into a bar—that isn’t the set up to a joke, they’re just all heading to the networking happy hour at Code for America Summit. 

They’re from different places around the country, working at different levels of government or civic technology organizations. They met earlier in the day at a session on multidisciplinary collaboration to improve service delivery, and want to talk about how what they learned applies to the context of problems they’re working on right now. They spend the evening talking, exchange contact information, and continue to share best practices and feedback, long after Summit is over. Here’s the best part—you were the person who sparked this conversation. 

Your session at Summit made a real difference in the lives of that technologist, policy expert, and product designer—and all the people they serve. So what are you waiting for? We want to hear your ideas for how to make Summit 2025 the most engaging one yet. To help you out, we’ve compiled a few tips for putting together a strong session proposal. 

Ready to contribute to the Summit experience? Check out our call for proposals page for more details and to submit your idea for a breakout session, lightning talk, or panel discussion. The call for proposals closes on November 25, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Make your proposal unique

A good Summit proposal piques curiosity, is easy to understand, and offers universal lessons. Your proposal can be about something the field needs to be talking about as a whole—like last year’s “Beyond heroics: Burnout in public interest tech and what we can do about it”—or can be about a niche topic you think people would want to nerd out on—like one of our most popular Summit sessions to date, “Disappear administrative burdens for healthcare renewals with this one weird trick.”

Some of our favorite sessions from recent years fall into both categories:

• Fix the damn websites: Using policy and data to transform government digital experience
• Cross-state collaboration to build digitally native paid leave systems
• The ultimate checklist for data maturity: Are you ready for AI?
• What happens when the three-legged stool of product, design, and engineering adds the fourth leg of procurement?
• It takes a village: Building an inclusive culture by making accessibility everyone’s responsibility

Speak to both the Summit theme and the current moment

We’re at a defining moment where the civic tech community has proven that longstanding systems can be changed. We must keep pushing forward—not just to create better outcomes for everyone today, but to build a stronger, more resilient government for tomorrow. That’s why the theme for Code for America Summit 2025 is: Designing for change, delivering for the future. A successful breakout session, panel, or lightning talk proposal will speak to that theme and address current challenges in the civic tech landscape. Consider asking yourself these questions: Why is this topic critical at this moment? Does it address emerging trends or pressing issues within the civic tech community? 

Think about your audience

As a presenter, we want to hear about how your qualifications, expertise, and background will create a deep and rich discussion for attendees. We also want to know what strategies you’ll use to captivate and involve attendees throughout the session. Does your session incorporate a diverse range of viewpoints to enrich the discussion? What actionable insights or tools will attendees gain from my session? Are there interactive elements—such as Q&A segments, live polls, and group activities— planned to foster participation? That makes for a stronger proposal.

Building a successful Summit proposal in a few easy steps

We hope you’ll join us from May 29–30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. for two days of networking, knowledge sharing, and inspiration. We look forward to seeing the ways you want to contribute to Summit! Submit a proposal before November 25, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. PT.