Last week, the White House honored Steven Clift, the founder and head of
E-Democracy, an online forum where people discuss everything from neighborhood development to airport noise, as a Champion of Change.
Clift was among 15 people across the country to receive the award. The honorees stand out for their work "to build participation in our democratic processes while using new technologies and engaging less represented communities via open government and civic hacking,” a prepared statement about the award reads.
Clift, a fellow with the
Ashoka association of global social entrepreneurs, started the nonprofit E-Democracy in 1994. Even today, “Most cities don’t have anything like that," he says.
The website has continued to evolve as well. For example, last year, with a Knight Foundation grant, it started a volunteer-run initiative called BeNeighbors.org that strives to “connect all neighbors online (and off) in public life,” a prepared statement reads.
So far, BeNeighbors.org has over 15,000 members throughout the Twin Cities and beyond who participate in numerous online forums, according to E-Democracy materials.
The forums are especially busy in South Minneapolis. Clift hopes to see the site gain traction in St. Paul.
This involves “tackling areas that are community information deserts with limited in-person (or online) opportunities to connect people locally across race, immigrants and native-born,” and more. To do so, the organization has been reaching out to people in person at local libraries, soccer games, and community festivals and even going door-to-door. The idea is to “make virtual space welcoming, open and relevant,” Clift says.
Already, posting volume on the site has increased 152 percent from St. Paul-ites over the past year. St. Paul is the first city he knows of with “a network of open online spaces covering every neighborhood/district,” he says.
In the forums, “People love to celebrate local small business, get recommendations on service, development along the light rail,” along with art events and more. In some ways, the result is akin to the virtual version of a grocery store bulletin board, Clift says. Meanwhile, the website’s volunteers are monitoring certain topics, looking for intersections of culture and place, among other things, he says.
Seeing the progress so far is encouraging. “These are pretty exciting times. We’re looking forward to expanding the work and sharing the welcomes,” he says.
Source: Steven Clift, E-Democracy
Writer: Anna Pratt