Come Hack with Me: Adapting Anthropological Training to Work in Civic Innovation

Abstract

Would you like to find a career that reflects your values, applies your research expertise, and welcomes your creativity? If so, perhaps a career in civic innovation may be something of interest. What follows is a primer on civic innovation based on my experiences at Code for America (CfA), a civic start-up organization located in San Francisco, California. Particular emphasis is given to how I adapted my anthropological training to work in this area. I also offer suggestions for interested readers about exploring this type of a career. My insights come from participating in CfA's 11-month fellowship program in 2013. This fellowship also allowed for post-doctoral research about civic innovation (Hébert and Hughes 2013). The references and examples used here mainly highlight the work of small and medium-sized businesses and organizations because often the work of larger companies is more widely known.