Open Twin Cities/Code for America 2013 Brigade Program Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Open Twin Cities Officially Named a Code for America Brigade
Open Twin Cities officially joins a national network of 30+ community groups collaborating with local governments to use technology to solve problems
Minneapolis, MN, September 27, 2013 — Open Twin Cities, a local group of citizen technologists and public servants working to develop inclusive solutions to open government, has been working with Code for America since the group’s inception late last year to bring national best practices to the local level.
Last week, Code for America released the 2013 Captain’s Brigade making the relationship official.
Code for America (CfA) launched the Brigade program in 2012 with 16 local chapters; and last week announced the addition of 15 new Brigades, supported by 28 new Captains.
Open Twin Cities co-founders Alan Palazzo (MinnPost) and Bill Bushey (E-Democracy.org) will serve as the official CfA co-captains and participate in the Brigade’s leadership program, which includes monthly trainings, participation in a network of civic and tech leaders, and support from Code for America staff.
“We are excited to build on our relationship with Code for America, to learn from the experiences of other Code for America Brigades, and to share our growing civic hacking community with the nation.”
–Bill Bushey, OTC co-founder and CfA Brigade co-captain
The Inaugural Brigades:
- Oakland: Steve Spiker, Eddie A Tejeda
- Raleigh*: Chad Foley, Jason Hibbets, Reid Serozi, Jason Horne
- Philadelphia: Lloyd Emelle, Chris Alfano
- Asheville: Scott Barnwell, Dave Michelson
- Maine: Andrew Jawitz, Emma Burnett
- San Diego: Jeffrey Johnson
- Austin: Chip Rosenthal
- Boston: Harlan Weber
- Detroit: Michael Evans
- Grand Rapids: Jonathan Pichot
- Chicago: Christopher Whitaker
- Lexington: Chase Southard
- Northern Virginia: Michelle Koeth
- Hawaii: Arthur Grau, Burt Lum
- Norfolk: Bret Fisher, Kevin Curry
- New York: Noel Hidalgo, Chris M Whong
The 2013 additions:
- Seattle: Seth Vincent, Will Scott
- Kansas City: Jase Wilson
- South Bend: Beth Harsch
- Las Vegas: Shawn Looker
- Miami: Ernie Hsiung, Rebekah Monson
- Anchorage: Becky Boone, Hans Thompson
- Tulsa: Luke Crouch, John Whitlock
- Minneapolis/St. Paul: Bill Bushey, Alan Palazzolo
- Sacramento: Hailey Pate, Kaleb Clark
- Washington D.C.: Matt Bailey, Justin Grimes
- Salt Lake City: Kris Trujillo, Nole Walkingshaw
- Burlington: Bradley Holt, Jason Pelletier
- Cary*: Robert Campbell, Ian Henshaw
- Durham*: Andrew Krzmarzick, Colin Copeland
- Houston: Bruce Haupt, Jeff Reichman
*Raleigh, Cary, and Durham, N.C. Brigades work locally as well as collaborate regionally as Triangle Brigade.
Code for America Brigades partner with local governments to foster civic innovation. Developers and designers collaborate with local government leaders to create and implement web applications, and explore new approaches to local challenges. Open Twin Cities is working closely with Minneapolis and Saint Paul departments of information technology, and the State of Minnesota Office of Enterprise Technology
More information is available at: http://www.codeforamerica.org/2013/09/17/brigade-captains/
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For more information, contact:
Open Twin Cities: Bill Bushey, wbushey@opentwincities.org
Code for America: Lauren Reid, 415-200-9468 or lr@codeforamerica.org
Code for America Founded in 2009, Code for America (CfA) is a nonprofit collaborating with local governments to foster and facilitate innovation. CfA is known for its fellowship program, which embeds tech and design professionals in local governments explore new approaches to resolving local challenges. Through the Accelerator, Brigade, and Peer Network programs, CfA is connecting cities with startups and volunteers, as well as each other. For more information, watch Founder Jennifer Pahlka’s TED talk: http://codeforamerica.org/TED or go to http://codeforamerica.org.
Open Twin Cities (OTC) is a nonprofit founded in 2012 in partnership with E-Democracy.org. Through civic technology events like Hack for MN and CityCampMN, Open Twin Cities brings together citizens, technologists, public servants, and community leaders of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area to focus on improving the technology of our cities. For more information, or to join Open Twin Cities online or in person, please visit http://www.opentwincities.org.
(This release is available as a Google Doc, and can be downloaded as a Word document or as a PDF.)