Open States Joins Civic Eagle: A message from our new Director of Public Data — Enview by Civic Eagle

"...2020 was in many ways a banner year for Open States, with several grants allowing me to resume full time work on the project. Of course, the grants were finite, and the pandemic also shifted a lot of funding priorities away from this kind of civic infrastructure project. Thinking forward to 2021

I knew that the future of the project was again in question. Would I try to maintain the project in my free time as I had for the first independent years? continue with some reduced capacity and accompanying sacrifices? or, worst case, have to step away and shut key parts of the project down? I knew no matter what that I wanted the project to continue. It was right as I began to explore these opportunities that Civic Eagle reached out.  I could tell right away from my conversations with Jesse and their CEO Damola that they wanted to see Open States succeed, not just eliminate it as competition or keep others from benefiting from the openness. 

As we continued to discuss what joining forces would look like, it became clear that this choice was the best for both the Open States community and for Civic Eagle.  I grew confidence that Open States could continue to grow under their umbrella, while remaining open.  Open States’ growth will be driven in part by Civic Eagle and by community needs, in turn increasing the quality and breadth of public data.

I’m joining Civic Eagle as its new Director of Public Data because I know that they are a team that is passionate about doing good and that understands the importance of tools like Open States for the communities it has served for the past twelve years. I am excited that Open States’ future will no longer be tied to the free time of a few former employees of a nonprofit, or the whims of grant-giving organizations. I’m eager to continue to grow the Open States community in new ways as the project enters its thirteenth year.

Thank you for sticking with me,

James Turk, Director of Public Data, Civic Eagle"

Related: https://www.civiceagle.com/enview-blog/civic-eagle-acquires-open-states