Introduction

2023 was the year OpenCivics was birthed into the world. Moving into our second year as an organization, with so many early developmental milestones accomplished, this year is poised to be the year in which our theory of change is fully activated and accelerated. Below you’ll find our reflections on what we accomplished in 2023 and our vision for 2024 and beyond.

Co-founding and Collaboration

• In September 2022, collaboration on OpenCivics was initiated by co-founders Timothy Archer and Benjamin Life, after a deep dive immersion with Gary Sheng and Susanna Choe, fellow civic innovators working at the intersections of ecological stewardship, civics, and systems change.
• In October 2022, Timothy and Benjamin officially began working together, bringing together their complementary skills and experiences in civics, web3, community building, and systems thinking.
• In November 2022, we hosted our first launch call, inviting friends and allies to join us in co-creating OpenCivics.
• In December 2022, we welcomed Patricia Parkinson as a co-founder, adding her expertise in civics, web3, community building, and systems thinking also to the team.

Design and Development

• In January 2023, we explored our theory of change, mapped a vision, and designed our brand identity, creating a cohesive and compelling narrative for OpenCivics.
• In February 2023, we spent two weeks in a design sprint in Mexico City, prototyping and mapping the components of the DAO and non-profit ecosystem. We returned to the US to host Federated Futures, an ETH Denver side event, and to speak at Schelling Point.
• In March 2023, Benjamin and Patricia engaged in a three-week in-person design, strategy, and content sprint on Salt Spring Island, BC, refining and iterating on network prototypes and onboarding materials.
• In April 2023, we published the version 1 of the OpenCivics constitution, outlining our core values, principles, and governance model. We also published the collaborative initiative specification template as well as documentation for our first three collaborative initiatives, focusing on citizen assemblies, a governance toolkit SDK, and bioregional governance.
• In May 2023, we designed and minted our membership NFTs, creating a unique and verifiable way for members to access and contribute to OpenCivics. We also created our Discord server, with various channels and plugins to facilitate communication and collaboration among members. We also created our membership application and outreach backend, the core infrastructure for launching a decentralized network and consortium.
• In June 2023, we began prototyping our membership onboarding experience with key friends and advisors, gathering feedback and insights on how to improve and enhance the process before going live with our entire network. We also created and refined our membership onboarding materials, providing clear and engaging information and guidance for new members. Benjamin presented OpenCivics at the Dweb Camp, hosted by the Internet Archive, spoke with Sir Tim Berners Lee (founder of the internet), and built friendships with other decentralized/peer to peer technologists working in the civic space.
• In July 2023, we continued to prototype and improve our membership experience, incorporating the feedback and insights from their early testers and advisors. We also worked on developing and integrating new features and functionalities like decentralized project management, multi-signature wallets, and collaborative knowledge management.
• In August 2023, we completed our prototype testing for the membership experience, identifying areas for improvement and innovation. We also published our Theory of Change and ‘What Is OpenCivics?’ videos, explaining our mission, vision, and approach in a concise and captivating way. We were also approached by Lobby3 / DeCiv Fund, a web3 fund for civic innovation, to conduct a quadratic funding grants program, leveraging our consortium and network to distribute funds to impactful civic projects. We also published documentation for a fourth collaborative initiative, focused on the quadratic funding grants program.

Launch and Establishment

• In September 2023, we opened our membership, inviting anyone who shares this vision and values to apply to join OpenCivics and co-create the future of democracy and society. We also published the version 2 of the OpenCivics constitution, incorporating the feedback and suggestions from our members and advisors, and subtly updating our governance model. Benjamin presented OpenCivics’ theory of change and vision for bioregional governance at the Regenerate Cascadia Bioregional Summit, connecting with other bioregionalists and activists in the Pacific Northwest.
• In October 2023, we published specifications for our fifth and sixth collaborative initiatives, focusing on collaborative protocols and food sovereignty networks, honing our scope toward local prototyping and creating a pattern language for collaboration. Benjamin also spoke at the Ethereum Localization Forum, sharing his insights and learnings on how to localize web3 technologies and solutions for different contexts and cultures.
• In November 2023, we launched our grant program and genesis round, distributing $33,000 USD to 15 civic innovation projects, with allocations made by the public through quadratic voting. Our grant round finished in the top three crowdfunded community rounds on the Gitcoin platform.