The Center for Civic Innovation does work around civics education and advocacy to improve civic engagement. The Center for Civic Innovation opened its doors in 2014, after a diverse group of people who love and live in Atlanta wanted to build a community space for conversation and action around Atlanta’s future. Jokingly called Atlanta’s unofficial “Department of Failure,” the Center for Civic Innovation was intended to be an unbiased platform for tough dialogue and debate on the direction of this city and a place for trying and testing new approaches to addressing Atlanta’s systemic challenges around inequality.

Since we first opened our doors, the Center for Civic Innovation has:

• Raised almost $1M from philanthropic and impact investors to invest in the growth 100+ civic entrepreneurs from the metro Atlanta area
• Investors include Sara Blakely (founder of Spanx), MailChimp (Inc’s 2017 Company of the Year), Kendeda Fund, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Chick-fil-A, United Way, Food Well Alliance, Equifax, and Arby’s.
• Revamped the third floor of an old department store to open a 10,000 sq. ft. centrally located meeting and learning space for the Atlanta civic community in South Downtown. We became an advocate and convener for the area’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Engaged and built a community of 25,000+ people through events, programs, and conversations.
• Facilitated or led on improvement of city engagement processes for City of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability, Food Well Alliance, Atlanta Regional Commission, South Downtown, Underground Atlanta, and city-wide elections.
• Developed #VoteATL campaign as a driver for information and engagement around the 2017 local elections in Atlanta, making us an instrumental resource for both the public and for city candidates.
• Received Echoing Green Global Fellowship, a City of Atlanta proclamation, and a Best of
  Atlanta award.