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 2027 the most engaging one yet. To help you out, we’ve compiled a few tips for putting together a strong session proposal. 

What’s new about submitting Summit proposals this time around

Summit is a constantly evolving event designed to meet the needs of the civic tech community as it grows and changes. When we first started hosting Summit, the field of civic tech was still relatively new, and many of us felt like we were building new methodologies from the ground up. Now, the field has niche policy and technical experts, proofs of concept for things that work, and established working norms to ensure projects are successful. We want the sessions at Summit to reflect this growth. 

That’s why, for the past few years, we’ve been explicitly calling for 201- and 301-level session proposals. “Why open sourcing improves innovation” is a 101-level presentation—and we love to have some of those at Summit for people just entering the space! But we’re really excited about those well-developed, more advanced sessions for people who are ready for a deeper dive. Take that open-source idea and turn it into something like “How to transition to open source when your projects depend on more traditional cloud computing services” or “Navigating privacy requirements in open-source data repositories.” That’s what civic tech veterans are hungry for. 

We’ve also introduced a new format for showcasing your work: the Demo Lab. In this science fair style civic tech showcase, participants have the chance to do a more personal presentation, where you get to engage with people about all the details of a work-in-progress. Show off what’s working, bring your questions about challenges you’ve faced, and get ready to swap contact information with your next collaborator.

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 “Ensuring an Informed Citizenry in the LLM Era”—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:

• How to Design Impact Evaluations for Government AI Tools
• What if Government Contracting Were a Musical? (If we had Summit Tonys, this would have won)
• Reducing the Payment Error Rate Through Human-Centered Caseworker Technology
• Making Messy Data Work: Entity Resolution for Multi-Vendor Environments
• From Policy to Plate: Delivering Summer EBT in the Field

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 to build a stronger, more resilient government today. It may feel daunting, but that’s what Summit is here for. 

The theme for Code for America Summit 2027 is: Bold Moves. Real Progress.

Right now, civic tech has the chance to truly deliver on policy promises—but what will it take to make that happen? Summit this year is about having the courage to put bold new ideas into action. Progress doesn't happen all at once, and it doesn't happen through technology alone. It happens when we put people first and come together to solve hard problems, learn from one another, and keep moving forward.

With that in mind, 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 June 3–4, 2027 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 23, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT.