OpenOakland bridges technology and community for a thriving and equitable Oakland. We do this by:

  • Cultivating meaningful relationships.
    By partnering with the City of Oakland and community organizations, we aim to foster a more inclusive, equitable, and engaged Oakland.

  • Inspiring civic engagement.
    We co-create tools and events that educate Oaklanders on how their City works and inspire them to effect civic change.

  • Empowering Oaklanders.
    We recognize that Oakland has a rich history of activism. We seek to empower all Oaklanders to keep advocating for our community‘s collective well-being.

We’re part of the Alliance of Civic Technologists

We are a member of the Alliance of Civic Technologists (previously the Code for America brigade network). Donations to OpenOakland are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor the Open Collective.

How we work

Membership is open to all, regardless of expertise or skill level. We work collaboratively, in the open, and strive to ensure those most impacted by our work are included in the decision-making that shapes it.

Governance Process Bylaws

Leadership team

OpenOakland is managed by a Steering Committee made up of one project representative from each project team, plus co-leads elected by general membership.

Current Steering Committee members:

  • John Baldo (rep, OpenOUSD)
  • Mike Ubell (rep, Open Disclosure)
  • Tom Theimer (rep, Councilmatic)
  • Niels Thorsen
  • Felicia Betancourt

Get involved

  • Join us at Hack Night.
    Every first Tuesday from 6:30-9:00pm PST, we meet in City Hall but are working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic). After intros, we break into project teams for deeper collaboration. Don’t be shy about joining in; we’re friendly folk. RSVP on Meetup.

  • Join us on Slack.
    Join us on Slack and introduce yourself in #oo-meet-and-greet (see our OpenOakland Slack Guide for help). We look forward to meeting you!

  • Contribute to an existing project.
    Check out our active projects. You’re welcome to contact project leads directly or jump into their Github repos but if you’re not a coder or are unsure how you might contribute, we suggest attending Hack Night to get to know our project teams.

We hope to see you soon!