I’m excited to share some organizational updates with the Brigade Network. It’s been just over one year since I started as Code for America’s CEO and, as you can imagine, it has been anything but a normal year.
Next week, Code for America hosts our annual Summit. This is an exciting time for the organization as we will also announce new branding and identity for Code for America, our first rebrand in nearly a decade.
Alongside our ReVisioning effort, the rebrand was shaped by Brigade members, staff, and other stakeholders through focus groups, surveys, and other stakeholder meetings. One of the most common sentiments we heard from Brigade members is that some of our best work is done alongside community partners and not necessarily in direct partnership with local government. Our rebrand has broadened the narrative to reflect the important community based work happening across the country.
We’ll also be saying goodbye to our light blue and red color scheme in favor of a new scheme. You can take a peek at what the new branding looks like on our Summit website, which applies the new branding. Soon, you’ll notice this styling applied more broadly to our website and other materials.
As many of you know, we are also in the middle of our Network ReVisioning project, an effort to redefine the Brigade Network and how we make change in the world. I’m excited to invite you to our Network ReVisioning Forum series. Each and every member of our Network is encouraged to attend, with one forum each week from May 19 through June 9. You can learn more and sign up for the next forum event here.
Our Decisionmaking Structure
Right now, the ReVisioning project is in our narrow phase. We’re gathering feedback from the Brigade Network through peer to peer sessions, an analysis of existing surveys and other data, and by holding forums, to guide a final recommendation. That final recommendation will be presented by NAC and the Network team to Code for America’s Executive Team (myself, Senior Program Director, Meredith Horowski, and other members of our executive team) by June 30. Because the Network ReVisioning will affect the entire organization, we have started holding regular leadership team meetings to discuss the implications of the ReVisioning on the organization, from potential staffing changes to funding and organizational messaging.
That’s it for now. I hope to see many of you at Summit next week, and at our next Forum on May 19!
Amanda Renteria