Collaborative governance, or co-governance, refers to a broad range of practices that elected officials, community leaders, bureaucrats, and organizers are adopting as they figure out how to govern together. Going beyond demands, co-governancerepresents a willing shift of power and trust among two typically adversarial parties. Instead of representatives and those represented on either side of a line, both see themselves as partners working together to build the world we want to live in.
On December 15, Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym, former Gainesville City Commissioner Gail Johnson, State Innovation Exchange Co-Executive Director Jessie Ulibarri, and Texas Organizing Project Strategy Director Crystal Zermeno joined New America's Hollie Russon Gilman and Local Progress's Sarah Johnson to discuss best practices, identify promising strategies, and highlight lessons from their on-the-ground experiences with co-governance in the U.S. The conversation moves beyond the dichotomy of "inside" and "outside" power to how those in government can share decision-making with movement partners.
Hollie Russon Gilman is a Political Reform program Senior Fellow at New America and an Affiliate Fellow at Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Her work focuses on topics at the intersection of civic engagement, digital technology, and participatory governance. Her research explores how to build a more equitable and inclusive multi-racial democracy. Her first book is Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Innovation and America as part of the Harvard Kennedy School's series on governance innovation in the 21st century. Most recently, Dr. Gilman also co-authored a book with Sabeel Rahman, Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis, Cambridge University Press.
She served in the Obama White House as the Open Government and Innovation Advisor in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. She was a grassroots organizer in rural New Hampshire and has served as an advisor and consultant to numerous foundations, companies, and non-profits. She holds a Ph.D. and MA from Harvard's Department of Government as well as an A.B. from the University of Chicago with the highest honors in political science.
Sarah is the Executive Director of Local Progress. Prior to joining Local Progress, Sarah served as the Managing Director at the Working Families Organization where she helped develop a senior management team to guide organizational strategy and as the Elections Director for the New York Working Families Party where she helped recruit, train and elect progressive elected officials at all levels of government and contributed to doubling the size of the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council. Sarah got her start as a political organizer for SEIU 32BJ where she managed member-to-member political programs and supported the union’s equitable development advocacy work, including the passage of a prevailing wage bill for New York City building service workers
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