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2.3 Leadership and Storytelling

Civic tech is a team sport, but successful projects often have one or two (or three!) core members who push things forward. Knowing how to keep teammates motivated, resolve conflicts and craft compelling narratives can help you succeed.

Effective leadership in civic tech is often more about facilitation and empowerment than top-down direction. Your role is to create the conditions for collective success and to amplify the voices and stories of your community.

Why it matters for project success:​

Civic tech projects are unique. Volunteers don’t get paid, so you need different ways to keep them engaged and motivated. Project teams are less hierarchical, so you need different methods of making decisions or resolving disagreements. It’s normal for projects to have high turnover, so you need to be intentional about attracting and onboarding new contributors. There’s often no marketing budget, so how you talk about your project really matters.

What it looks like in practice:​

  1. Empower others: People are more likely to participate in projects when they feel a sense of ownership. Consider making decisions collaboratively, or delegating decisions to team members who are leading aspects of the work (e.g. let the developers choose which software language to use). If you have regular meetings, consider rotating the role of facilitator to encourage diverse leadership styles.
  2. Make room for marketing: Don’t neglect storytelling or marketing. Seek out volunteers with communications experience. Make a short video about your project for social media. Write some blog posts. Look for opportunities to present about your work and refine your pitch (hacknights are a safe space to practice presenting!).
  3. Celebrate progress: Successful civic tech teams celebrate their milestones. Be intentional about celebrating wins, no matter how small, to maintain momentum.

Resources to help:​