Alliance of Civic Technologists

What Alliance of Civic Technologists does

Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2023 and headquartered in Chicago that operates as a decentralized network connecting volunteer civic technology organizations across the United States. Its stated purpose is to convene the network, enable shared learning and mutual support among member organizations, and amplify their local stories nationally. ACT does not develop or sell a software product; instead it provides coordination services including an annual Congress (ACT Congress), a network of CityCamp events (nine hosted in 2025), a public Discord community, a monthly email newsletter, and working committees for communications, membership, and events. The organization is governed by a five-member board elected by delegates from member organizations, and it grew from 8 inaugural members in December 2024 to 18+ member organizations by mid-2025.

ACT's underlying technology is limited to off-the-shelf community and collaboration platforms — Discord, Zoom, email newsletters (via eepurl.com), and a basic website (civictechnologists.org) hosted with static assets. There is no proprietary software, public API, SDK, or mobile application associated with ACT, and no integrations beyond standard social media presence on LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Bluesky. The organization is not a product company; its "platform" is governance and convening infrastructure rather than software.

ACT's business model is donation-based. Membership is free for civic tech volunteer organizations, which apply via a public Google Form. ACT accepts tax-deductible donations routed through Hack Club's donation platform and does not charge membership dues; some events (such as ACT Congress 2026) may carry a registration fee. The organization achieved 501(c)(3) status in 2026, formalizing its nonprofit structure. Its customer base consists of local civic technology volunteer organizations serving as members, with secondary engagement from individual civic technologists and emerging civic tech leaders seeking to start new chapters.

Name

Alliance of Civic Technologists

Legal name

Alliance of Civic Technologists

Website

https://civictechnologists.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Alliance of Civic Technologists is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit network that convenes 18+ volunteer civic technology organizations across the United States, providing shared learning, events (ACT Congress, CityCamp), and national amplification through Discord, newsletters, and member-driven committees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology Nonprofit Network

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (81341), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ), Nonprofit, Social Services & Community Development Congresses (THAHAJAO)

Keywords

• Civic technology network
• Volunteer coalition
• Nonprofit membership network
• Community coordination services
• Public interest technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: ACT accepts tax-deductible donations through Hack Club's donation platform. Donations support organizational operations, event initiatives like CityCamp, and general membership support. The organization achieved 501(c)3 status in 2025.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ACT operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit decentralized network that convenes, supports, and amplifies local civic technology volunteer organizations across the United States. Its core offering is membership-based coordination: it links 18+ member organizations through shared communications (Discord, newsletter), governance (elected board, delegate voting), and programming (ACT Congress, CityCamp events, working committees). The organization does not sell a commercial software product; it provides networking, shared learning, mutual support, and national-level event coordination as its core deliverables.

Product overview

Alliance of Civic Technologists (ACT) is a solidarity network that connects volunteer civic technology organizations rather than offering a unified software product. ACT provides a coordination and convening function for member organizations through shared learning, mutual support, and amplifying local stories nationally. The organization does not offer a standalone software product, platform, or module as a commercial offering; instead, it operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit network supporting local civic tech volunteer groups through organizing events (ACT Congress, CityCamp), maintaining a community Discord server, publishing newsletters, and facilitating collaboration across its member organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACT Membership (civic tech organization network)
• ACT Congress (annual unconference)
• CityCamp events (via ACT–CityCamp partnership)
• ACT Discord Community
• ACT Monthly Newsletter
• ACT Delegate Meetings and Town Halls
• Working Committees (Communications, Membership, Events)
• Code of Conduct (community standards)

Quantifiable outcome

• 18+ member organizations across the United States as of 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CityCampcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT is an organizing partner with CityCamp, a global movement of community-focused events that foster civic collaboration and innovation. ACT coordinates with CityCamp to host events across the United States, culminating in World CityCamp Day. Nicole Dan from Florida Community Innovation leads ACT's coordination efforts. Nine CityCamp events were organized in 2025 through this partnership.
• Hack ClubminorOthersACT accepts tax-deductible donations through Hack Club's donation platform. Hack Club provides the infrastructure for processing donations to the nonprofit organization.
• Florida Community InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlorida Community Innovation (FCI) is a key organizational partner for ACT. FCI Executive Director Caroline Nickerson leads ACT's Events Committee. FCI is hosting ACT Congress 2026 in Orlando, Florida. FCI also coordinates CityCamp efforts for ACT and has partnered with ACT on joint initiatives.
• Technologists for Public GoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT and Technologists for Public Good issued a joint statement reaffirming commitment to support all individuals working to improve civic society, particularly those affected by policy changes. The organizations collaborate on advocacy priorities and resource sharing for civic technologists impacted by federal workforce changes.
• We the BuildersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT partnered with We the Builders and Technologists for Public Good on a joint blog post highlighting the impact of the Trump administration's first year on public interest technology, focusing on the dissolution of civic tech teams across government.
• Chi Hack NightcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChi Hack Night is a founding member organization of ACT and served as the venue for ACT's launch announcement in October 2024. They penned a blog post about ACT's origins and mission. Chi Hack Night regularly features ACT Executive Director Christopher Whitaker at events.
• Open AustincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen Austin partnered with ACT on a social media campaign for the ATX Public Interest Tech Mixer that resulted in a sold-out event with 37 attendees. Open Austin is a member organization with Aslan French serving on ACT's Board of Directors.
• Civic SparkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivic Spark is a conference/unconference happening August 16-17 that brings together civic technologists from across North America. ACT Executive Director Christopher Whitaker participated in a panel discussion on regional cooperation in civic tech at the event.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Hack Club: Hack Club is a nonprofit network of high school coding clubs that provides ACT's donation infrastructure through its HCB platform. While not a direct civic tech peer, Hack Club shares ACT's community-network model and serves as financial infrastructure for grassroots organizing among technical youth, with overlapping donor and volunteer constituencies.

Broad incumbents

• Nava: Nava is a public-benefit corporation that builds civic technology products for government agencies, founded by alumni of the US Digital Service. While not a volunteer network like ACT, Nava competes for the same civic tech talent pool and federal/state contracts, representing a more commercialized version of the public-interest technology mission ACT advances.
• National Civic League: National Civic League is a 130-year-old nonprofit that convenes civic leaders, publishes research on civic engagement, and runs programs like the Coalition for an Equitable and Just Democracy. It is a much larger, older institution with overlapping mission of strengthening civic participation, though focused on governance rather than technology.
• Code for All: Code for All is an international network of civic tech organizations across dozens of countries, including US-based affiliates. ACT operates as a US-focused member of the broader Code for All ecosystem and shares the convening-and-support model, though ACT emphasizes decentralized volunteer chapters while Code for All coordinates across national organizations.
• US Digital Response: US Digital Response is a 501(c)(3) that deploys pro-bono technologists to under-resourced state and local governments. It overlaps with ACT's mission of supporting civic technologists serving the public good but focuses on direct technical assistance to government rather than convening volunteer chapters, making it a broader, more institutionally oriented peer.

Direct peers

• Technologists for Public Good: Technologists for Public Good is a national network of civic technologists that has issued joint statements and partnered with ACT on advocacy. It serves a similar audience of public-interest technologists and competes for the same volunteer mindshare, foundation funding, and convening authority across the civic tech ecosystem.
• Code for America: Code for America operates the original and most established national civic tech volunteer Brigade network in the US, serving as the direct incumbent whose volunteer-captain model ACT explicitly parallels (Christopher Whitaker was a 2013 Code for America volunteer captain). Both organizations convene volunteer civic technologists building public-interest technology, but Code for America also runs paid accelerator programs and has institutional federal partnerships that ACT lacks.

Regional players

• Chi Hack Night: Chi Hack Night is a Chicago-based civic tech volunteer organization and ACT founding member that serves as a model for local chapter operations. While ACT operates nationally, Chi Hack Night is one of the most established regional civic tech groups that ACT explicitly partners with and whose Code of Conduct ACT adapted for its own community guidelines.
• BetaNYC: BetaNYC is a New York City-based civic tech volunteer organization whose Executive Director (Noel Hidalgo) sits on ACT's board. BetaNYC is one of ACT's most prominent member organizations and exemplifies the kind of mature regional civic tech chapter that ACT's national network is built around, with programs like NYC School of Data (600+ registrations).

Others

• New America Foundation: New America is a think tank with a longstanding Public Interest Technology program that publishes research, convenes practitioners, and shapes federal policy on civic tech. It functions as an enabling/thematic peer rather than a direct competitor, sharing ACT's interest in growing the civic tech field but operating through policy research rather than volunteer chapters.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/civictechallies

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Alliance of Civic Technologists