Code for America Receives $2 Million From Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced a $2 million grant to San Francisco-based Code for America to strengthen the organization's national network of community organizers, developers, and designers. The two-year grant will support the next phase of growth for the Code for America Brigades, including the establishment of advisory councils to amplify the organization's impact within the communities in which it works. The funds also will enable the organization to implement a redesigned fellowship model with a local focus, connecting technologists from the community with community-based initiatives and supporting collaborations with government focused on building tools that address specifically local issues. Since 2012, the Code for America Brigade network has worked with local government and community partners to build and implement technology tools focused on addressing civic issues. Since Knight's initial investments in the organization, the Code for America network has grown from three to seventy-seven brigades, while the initial group of fewer than a hundred volunteers has become a network of some twenty-five thousand people. "Code for America believes that making government work for the people, by the people in the digital age creates strong, vibrant communities. In the last five years, volunteers in brigades have defined a 'new kind of public service'. Strengthening the capacity for this kind of civic engagement is critical if we hope this impact to spread," said Code for America founder and executive director Jennifer Pahlka. "We are grateful to the Knight Foundation for their continued vision and commitment to this work."