Cities Forward
We help cities reach residents and follow through.
Since 2022, we’ve partnered with city halls in 10 cities to design and run nonpartisan programs that reach residents where they are. Now we’re building the tools that help cities show residents what happened after they asked for help.
OnePhillyConnect outreach team, PhiladelphiaWhen residents speak up, they should hear back. We help city halls make that the norm.
Since 2022
The work so far
Built with city halls
Programs residents know by their city’s name
Why cities work with us
A nonpartisan partner that knows how city hall works.
We design for how cities actually operate: tight budgets, small teams, and many departments touching the same issue.
Programs a city owns outlast the grant, the staff, and the mayor.
Programs built to reach people
Outreach that meets residents where they already are: libraries, clinics, festivals, transit hubs, and their own mailboxes.
Local partners who stay
Coalitions with organizations residents already trust, and we keep showing up after Election Day.
Inside city hall
We work alongside mayors’ offices and city staff, so programs speak in the city’s own voice.
Work that lasts
We help cities build civic engagement into their own institutions, like Milwaukee Public Library, so it keeps going after any one grant ends.
Case study · Milwaukee
One MKE stayed after the election. The coalition more than tripled.
One MKE coalition town hallOne MKE · 2025
From 40 partner organizations to 141 in a year, with residents in four neighborhoods choosing and leading their own projects.
Where we’re going
Residents ask for help every day. Too often, they never hear back.
City governments have no shortage of contact with residents. What they often lack is coordination, and a way to show residents what happened after they asked for help.
We’re building the Civic Intelligence Dashboard, a nonpartisan tool cities can own. It brings resident requests into one view, helps departments coordinate, and closes the loop with the resident who reported the problem. We plan to test it in a three-city pilot in 2027.
How cities can better understand and respond to resident priorities
Resident perspectives311 data insightsRecommendationsNew research · October 2026
From Service Requests to Stronger Participation
What city leaders, community partners, and resident data tell us about 311, trust, and civic engagement, and how cities can make more of the work they already do.
Get involved
Build it with us.
We’re looking for city leaders, funders, and community organizations to build the first version with us in 2027, and to keep the work nonpartisan, practical, and owned by the cities it serves.
Nonpartisan. Built with city hall.
We help cities reach residents and follow through.
Cities Forward is a national, nonpartisan organization that works with local government to increase civic engagement. Since 2022, we’ve partnered with city halls in 10 cities to design and run programs that reach residents where they are. Now we’re building tools that help cities follow through: confirming the work is done and telling residents what happened.