Code for DC has rebranded as Civic Tech DC

As of October, Code for DC is no more.

On the civic tech organization’s 11th anniversary, it officially rebranded to Civic Tech DC. The org, which meets monthly, was previously an affiliate of Code for America (CfA) before the national nonprofit severed financial ties with its local coding brigades in February of this year. Now, following a hiatus in 2022, Civic Tech DC organizers are trying to get things back up and running to pre-pandemic levels.

Code for America hosted brigades all over the country, with the goal of producing civic projects to help local communities. Sheldon Bachstein, a codirector of Civic Tech DC and engineering lead at Nava PBC, said that the group came together to vote on a new name after CfA demanded local brigades drop the ‘Code for’ moniker (CfA still hosts the web domain and the Meetup group page).

A silver lining? He told Technical.ly that the new name actually better describes what the organization is all about.

“It’s more clear about what we’re doing and it’s also more inclusive because it’s not just about coding,” Bachstein said. “We try very intentionally to be open to people who are not coders.”

For Code for DC, the name change came at a bit of a rough time. Bachstein, who attended as a member for years before taking up a leadership position in 2023, said the group took a hiatus in June of 2022. He and a friend decided to help restart the group in January before getting news about the name change the following month.

In the hiatus, Bachstein said the brigade lost most of the projects it had been working on and had a huge turnover in leadership. It’s been hosting events throughout 2023, but things just started picking up in August, with about 30-40 people coming to each meetup.

“We have momentum where we have projects, we’re starting to partner with new organizations,” Bachstein said. “We’ve had more people step up as organizers, so it feels like the flywheels are spinning again, or starting to spin again.”

The group also found a new fiscal sponsor in the Open Collective Foundation. Still, Bachstein and other organizers have spent a lot of time tracking down tools and domains, as well as tying up numerous ends around the change.

But aside from access to some of the resources CfA provided, the group also lost its connection to some of the other brigades. Organizers have had to start networking all over again.

“Our way of engaging with other brigades and other local civic tech groups, we’re having to go back to the drawing board to that one, so that’s been a challenge,” Bachstein said.

Currently, the org is working on projects like building a DC tool lending library; DARIA, a case management system for abortion funds; and a project for residents to find their local Advisory Neighborhood Commission and elected officials.

Going forward, Bachstein said the group wants to go back to meeting more often (it previously met twice a month). Organizers are also looking for more local partners and technologists who might want to bring civic change to DC.

“It’s a great place to come socially, you can meet people with similar interests,” Bachstein said. “It’s exciting to find ways to apply your skill set to improve things in the community and I think, as a group in this setting, we can amplify what our impact can be.”