About
Since 2015, CTCL has worked with election officials serving 170 million voters across the United States
CTCL is a team of civic technologists, trainers, researchers, election administration and data experts working to foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize U.S. elections. We connect election officials with tools and trainings so they can best serve their communities. We provide information the public needs to develop lifelong civic habits. Our founders — Tiana Epps-Johnson, a civic technologist, Whitney May, a former election official, and Donny Bridges, a civic data expert —joined forces in 2012 to get more Americans civically engaged. Bringing together their unique, individual areas of expertise offered a chance to break down the traditional siloes found in the civic data and election administration worlds. Before launching CTCL, Tiana, Whitney, and Donny set out on a “listening tour” of election offices, meeting with public servants in courthouses and capitals from New Jersey to California, Wisconsin to Tennessee. As they crisscrossed the country they saw:
- Huge advances in data programs and tools that connect people to the civic information they need to participate in elections
- People hustling in local offices to do more with very little
- County election boards striving to keep pace with technology
- City clerks collecting data to improve the voter experience in their communities.
They recognized an opportunity to lift up innovations and tackle challenges on a nationwide level — by highlighting best practices, creating easy to use resources for administrators, and developing infrastructure to better deliver information about elections. Today, CTCL is a nationally-recognized nonprofit that partners with everyone — from rural election offices to the largest tech companies in the world.