A big congratulations to NCDD members Steven Clift and Anita Brown-Graham, who were among 15 Open Government and Civic Hacking Champions of Change honored by the White House on Tuesday for their work in connecting communities. The Obama administration recognized the business, community and social media leaders for using high-tech tools to bring citizens closer to government at the state and local levels.
Steven, the executive director of E-Democracy in Minneapolis, has worked at the neighborhood level since 1994, connecting 1,000 citizens online by starting with what they need, including finding their lost cats. Technology helps break the ice, he said during a panel discussion, and has helped empower people.
Anita, director of North Carolina State’s Institute for Emerging Issues, said the state’s failure to reach people brought her to this work. Her institute brings residents together from across North Carolina to consider complex problems that affect the state’s competitiveness. Anita said her goal moving forward is to enhance the quality of deliberation and be an example for other organizations doing this work.
Pictured below are some of the NCDD members present today, including our two “Champs!” From left to right: Marla Crockett, NCDD Board Chair, Steven Clift of e-democracy.org, Anita Brown-Graham of NC State’s Institute for Emerging Issues, Leanne Nurse from the Environmental Protection Agency and Wayne Moses Burke from the Open Forum Foundation.
Earlier this year, Rich was asked to facilitate a series of meetings in Newtown, CT to help the grieving city decide what to do with Sandy Hook Elementary School, site of the horrific mass murder of children and school personnel last December. We’ve asked Rich to talk to NCDD members about his work in Newtown, and the broader work he and his colleagues are doing at the Harwood Institute for Public Engagement. (
