What’s Going on with the Civic Innovation Fellowship?
We’ve been awarded funding from the Siegel Family Endowment and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to explore how to deepen and scale the Civic Innovation Fellowship. This planning year will focus on understanding how we can grow the program into a workforce development pipeline that better supports CUNY students entering public interest technology (PIT) careers.
Even though this is a planning year, we’re still running an inaugural cohort! Behind the scenes, we’re working on:
- Bolstering our curriculum to better support career development
- Identifying key academic, public sector, private, and government partners who can shape and support the next evolution of this work
- Securing an additional $1,000,000 in funding to launch a fully realized program model that others can replicate across the country.
Our Work with CUNY PIT
As part of our New America Challenge Grant, we’ve continued our strong partnership with the CUNY PIT Lab. This spring, we collaborated with students in PSY 212: Social Psychology to integrate civic tech into their curriculum and support real-world applications of open data and mapping.
The students spent the semester working on civic mapping projects and presented their outcomes with clarity and creativity. Together, they made powerful contributions to the open map:
- 310 total features mapped by students
- 2,527 parking spaces added
- 87 accessible parking spaces identified
- ~0.2 miles (1,094 feet) of pedestrian paths mapped — including routes from the Campus Center to the Library
We’re excited to onboard some of these students into our 12-week Civic Innovation Fellowship at BetaNYC this summer — bringing their experience and curiosity directly into our community work.
What’s going on with Mapping for Equity on OpenStreetMap (OSM)?
As for Mapping for Equity itself, we’re entering a new phase: passing along the Mapping for Equity Toolkit: Learning, Teaching, and Hosting OpenStreetMap (OSM) Events.
Back in March, we hosted an interactive workshop titled From Tools to Action: Using OpenStreetMap and BetaNYC’s Mapping for Equity Toolkit in Your Community during Open Data Week. This session walked attendees through our toolkit — a resource designed to help communities map underrepresented public spaces and use open data to advocate for more equitable representation. It’s a tangible way to practice public interest technology and deepen community knowledge of place.
Since then, we’ve been working with:
- Code for the Carolinas to embed Mapping for Equity into their ongoing programming
- DIVAS for Social Justice to explore how it fits into their curriculum
- John Ericsson Middle School 126 (JEMS 126), where students mapped their school grounds, envisioned more equitable public spaces, and brougt those ideas to life as part of their annual S.T.E.A.M. Challenge
- And more university professors are lined up for conversations this Fall
If you are interested in using our toolkit and have questions, email us at cif@beta.nyc!
Mapping for Equity Events are Alive and Kicking!
Beyond handing off the toolkit, we’ve also been out in the world, running a slate of public Mapping for Equity events all summer long — with more on the way.
👉 You can see the full list of past and upcoming events at beta.nyc/events
What’s Next for the Summer Fellows?
We have a lot in store for the next cohort of Civic Innovation Fellows!
This round, we’re adding a critical AI component to the curriculum, helping fellows to understand how it works and think critically about its role in public interest technology. We will also train fellows to lead public-facing Mapping for Equity events. Before they get there, they’ll build a foundation in open data, learn how OpenStreetMap works, and develop professional communication and de-escalation skills to support meaningful community engagement. Alongside ongoing public events (beta.nyc/events), we’ll be closing out the fellowship with a CUNY Public Interest Tech (PIT) Pop-Up this fall (October–November). Imagine a centrally located NYC storefront turned into a showcase for cross-sector collaboration, designed with regional NY PIT Hub partners and led by the CUNY PIT Lab. The pop-up will feature student projects, hands-on activities, and conversations that bring together civic and private sector leaders. It’s a space to spark new partnerships, foster professional development, and uplift community-led innovation through the lens of PIT. Stay tuned!