Welcome to Civic Tech DC!

The best way to get involved is just to show up. We’re a project-driven community, which means at any given time we have 6–7 active projects running. We meet twice a month, and the evenings are a mix of real work, learning, and genuinely good company (and pizza).

Everyone’s welcome. You don’t need to be a developer or have any particular background. We have engineers, policy folks, designers, product managers, researchers, and plenty of people who just heard about us and wanted to see what civic tech was about.

What is a “Project Night” and “Projects”

A Project Night is a time when we have 6–7 active projects that people can come in and work on together. It’s a great way to build skills in different areas while collaborating with community members.

A Project is a service, tool, or process built using technology to address a community need. All projects are required to be developed in partnership with a validated community partner who helps guide its design and implementation.

To learn how a project formed, check out the incubator.

Your First Project Night

Walking into a new community event can feel a little intimidating, but we are friendly folks! Here is exactly how a project night usually goes.

6:00–6:30pm: Arrival, food, and mingling

Doors open. Grab food and meet new folks.

6:30–6:45pm: Welcome and announcements

Civic Tech organizers share announcements and we will hear quick pitches from project leads about what they’re working on that night.

6:45–7:00pm: New member orientation

After the presentation, we host a new member orientation to share about what is Civic Tech DC and help you get connected to the right project.

7:00–8:15pm: Project work

This is the heart of the evening. You break off into project groups and work alongside the team.

8:15–8:30pm: Regroup and share

Everyone comes back together for a quick wrap-up where each project shares what they worked on. No achievement is too small and it can range from shipping a PR, finishing a research interview, or getting unstuck all count.

8:30–9:00pm: Optional happy hour

For those who want to keep talking, we head to a nearby bar. This is optional, but a great way to end the night.

Find a Project

We’re always incubating new projects and iterating on existing ones. You can explore the full list of active projects here

When you join a project, you’ll notice that each one operates a little differently. Some projects begin with a structured onboarding and orientation phase, while others dive directly into building and learning by doing. Both approaches are valid.

The key is to observe how the team works, ask questions early, and find where you can plug in effectively.

Logistics

Bi-weekly Project Nights We met on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month. To register and find the next project night, check out our calendar.

Join Slack
Slack is the best way to stay connected between project nights with your project. The community also share updates, coordinate work, and post announcements. It is extremely recommended that you join and if you’re new to Slack, here’s the official guide

Join GitHub
All projects have a GitHub repository under the main Civic Tech DC account. Each project uses GitHub to various amount of use. It is recommended that you have an awareness about GitHub and consider creating an account with instructions here. If you have a GitHub account, ask the project leads to add your username.

Code of Conduct
We prioritize creating a welcoming community through our code of conduct. If the conduct was violated, please feel free to come talk to our team. Or if you want to be annoymous, you can fill out this form and we will take the next best steps.

FAQs

I am not sure if I want to contribute to a project:

That is fine! You are welcome to use project nights to work on your own thing and meet other folks.

I don’t have a lot of technical skills:

That is also fine, we welcome folks from a wide range of backgrounds and skills!