Launching the Civic Innovation Corps

Expanding civic tech opportunities for students to cities and states across the country

Today, Coding it Forward announced the Civic Innovation Corps — our newest program connecting mission-driven technologists to civic tech opportunities in city and state governments across the United States. Corps members will spend 10 weeks over the summer with a host office at the state or local level to use their data and technology skills to make government more effective and efficient for all.

We believe that young people play a critical role in how our country serves its constituents at all levels of government and have seen incredible excitement from young technologists looking to serve with their skills. The Civic Innovation Corps will allow us to further harness this enthusiasm and energy by providing young people with more opportunities to channel their excitement into lasting change.

This new program will complement our Civic Digital Fellowship, which will continue to be the home for all of our federal partners. There has never been a more necessary time to mobilize the next generation of technologists to create civic impact in cities and states across the country.

How We Got Here

Four years ago, our team founded Coding it Forward with the mission to inspire and empower young people with technology skills to work in social impact and public service. At the time, however, these opportunities were too few and far between.

Between 2017 and 2020, Coding it Forward tackled this problem head-on, building a program that would break down the barriers of entry that we identified were holding back young, mission-driven technologists, including awareness and availability of opportunities, a community of like-minded peers, and opportunities for mentorship.

In many ways, Coding it Forward has catalyzed a growing movement of civic-minded students and young people who want to use their technology and design skills to improve their communities and country. When we launched the Civic Digital Fellowship with 14 Fellows at the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017, we were one of the only mission-driven technology opportunities available for students and recent graduates.

Today, universities can join New America’s Public Interest Technology University Network, students can join or start a campus chapter of national organizations like Design for America or Hack4Impact, and organizations like Nava PBC and Code for America are hiring for entry-level and apprenticeship positions.

In the last four years, our Fellowship cohorts have only grown, and we now have a vibrant alumni community of over 200 young technologists. But the size of our applicant pool each year has grown just as quickly, if not quicker. Just two weeks ago, we closed our 2021 Fellowship recruitment with over 1,700 applicants from across the country — 70% more than our previous record.

While our federal government plays a key role in the lives of all Americans, it’s clear that many of our most important systems are built at the state and local levels. From transportation systems to trash disposal, and from public education to public safety, our local and state governments are often responsible for the systems and services that we interact with on a daily basis.

This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when citizens across the country have been frustrated by the botched delivery of state unemployment websites, contact tracing apps, and vaccine rollouts. And in no small part, this is due to budget shortfalls that have resulted in under-resourced and short-staffed government offices at the very moment when we need them the most.

The Civic Innovation Corps provides a new avenue for us to meet the growing demand from mission-driven technologists for opportunities in social impact and public service at a time in which there has never been a greater need for such opportunities at the state and local levels.

Program Model

We’re looking forward to working with 9 states and cities across the country to support their teams with mission-aligned software engineers, data scientists, designers, and product managers.

Corps members will be hosted by one of our host partners:

• Cities: Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Los Angeles, CA; San Jose, CA; New York, NY; Miami, FL
• States: California; New Jersey; Utah

Corps members will receive a competitive stipend, partake in programming and professional development curated specifically for local and state contexts, and enjoy a community of mission-driven peers.

Coding it Forward and our host offices have made the joint decision to have all Civic Innovation Corps members work remotely in Summer 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The health, safety, and wellbeing of our community is our first priority, and due to continued significant community spread, uncertainty posed by vaccine distribution challenges, and new strains of the virus, our team believes that a fully remote program is the safest and most equitable option.

Eligibility

The Civic Innovation Corps will open the door to more applicants than we’ve been able to in the past. Non-U.S. citizens and other international students eligible to work in the United States will be eligible to apply to and participate in this new Coding it Forward internship program. Non-traditional students and career changers who have recently completed an alternative training program (e.g. coding bootcamp) are also eligible and encouraged to apply. All applicants must be currently enrolled or have graduated no earlier than December 2020.

Coding it Forward is committed to assembling a diverse cohort of Civic Innovation Corps members. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and Veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Applications will open on Friday, February 12th, and close two weeks later on Sunday, February 28th at 11:59 p.m. PT. Visit our website for more details and frequently asked questions, and subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know when applications open.

Learn more about the Civic Innovation Corps and other Coding it Forward programs by joining our Facebook group, subscribing to our newsletter, and following us on Twitter.

Some may recognize the Civic Innovation Corps “brand” from this past summer when we used it as an umbrella for a pilot partnership with U.S. Special Operations Command. However, moving forward, we have moved SOCOM under our Civic Digital Fellowship program with the rest of our federal partners and will be re-focusing the Civic Innovation Corps on our state and local partners.