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Code for America

Logo: Code for America, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

American non-profit organization

Code for America is a 501(c)(3) civic tech non-profit organization that was founded by Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, "to promote 'civic hacking', and to bring 21st century technology to government. " Federal, state, and local governments often lack the budget, expertise, and resources to efficiently deploy modern software. Code for America partners with governments to help deliver software services, particularly to low income communities and to people who have been left out.2 Its revenue was $37.9 million in 2023.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Sep 2009Founded1

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Code for America is a 501(c)(3) civic tech non-profit organization that was founded by Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, "to promote 'civic hacking', and to bring 21st century technology to government." Federal, state, and local governments often lack the budget, expertise, and resources to efficiently deploy modern software. Code for America partners with governments to help deliver software services, particularly to low income communities and to people who have been left out. "A large population of American citizens in poverty are not connected and exposed to government resources that they are eligible for—nearly US$60,000,000,000 worth of potential benefits for people in need remain unclaimed every year."2

Corporate structure

Code for America sits at the top of its group. 4 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Code for America San Francisco
    • Code for America brigade Subsidiary · United States
    • Code for Anchorage Subsidiary · Anchorage, United States
    • Code for Charlottesville Subsidiary · Charlottesville, United States

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Jennifer Pahlka on Sep 2009.1

In 2009, Jennifer Pahlka was working with O'Reilly Media at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, DC. A conversation with Andrew Greenhill, the Mayor's Chief of Staff of the City of Tucson, sparked the initial idea for Code for America, when he said "You need to pay attention to the local level, because cities are in major crisis. Revenues are down, costs are up—if we don't change how cities work, they're going to fail." The two began discussing plans for a program that eventually became Code for America, "a one-year fellowship recruiting developers to work for city government". With support from web entrepreneur Leonard Lin, Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media, the Sunlight Foundation, among others, the organization was launched in September 2009.

On July 6, 2010, the organization announced it would be recruiting fellows to participate in an eleven month program with assigned cities. Twenty fellows were selected from 360 applicants. Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Seattle were the four cities selected to participate in the 2011 program. Fellows partnered with Boston developed an "Adopt a Hydrant" website, so that volunteers in Boston could sign up to shovel out fire hydrants after storms. The system was also used in Providence, Anchorage, and Chicago. Honolulu created a similar website, "Adopt-A-Siren", for its tsunami sirens. A group of 2015 fellows started the GetCalFresh project, which grew into a multi-year project supported by teams within the organization.

In 2012, Code for America started supporting local volunteer groups called Brigades. One of the first Brigades, Friendly Code, was out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Brigade network eventually grew to 60 chapters.

In May 2019, Pahlka announced her intention to step down from her leadership role at Code for America. On May 1, 2020, Amanda Renteria was named as the new CEO.

In January 2023, Code for America ended its Brigade Program and began sunsetting affiliation with Brigades. In an interview, Tracey Patterson, Code for America's chief program officer, "Called the brigades a 'big part' of Code for America's history, she said its mission has shifted over the years to the point that supporting dozens of decentralized groups isn't the best use of its resources."

On August 4, 2021, Code for America employees announced their intent to unionize with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local1010. The organization officially ratified its first union contract in October 2023. The benefits package "sets a model for technology nonprofits across the country," according to CEO Amanda Renteria.

From Wikipedia’s article on Code for America, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Code for America, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

  • Code for America brigade
  • Code for Anchorage
  • Code for Charlottesville

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Feb 12, 2019Acquired Open Kentuckiana1
  2. Mar 2014Open Source San José became a subsidiary1
  3. 2014Acquired Innovate for Vegas Foundation1

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

Code for America revenue by year1$37.9M in 2023+230% since 2014
0$50.0M$100.0M$150.0M2014: $11.5M$11.5M20142015: $10.4M$10.4M2015−9%2016: $12.9M$12.9M2016+23%2017: $18.7M$18.7M2017+45%2018: $15.2M$15.2M2018−19%2019: $15.0M$15.0M2019−1%2020: $34.6M$34.6M2020+130%2021: $105.6M$105.6M2021+206%2022: $34.3M$34.3M2022−68%2023: $37.9M$37.9M2023+11%
  • 2023$37.9M1
  • 2022$34.3M1
  • 2021$105.6M1
  • 2020$34.6M1
  • 2019$15.0M1
  • 2018$15.2M1

Timeline

  1. Sep 2009Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
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