Hello, Again

One year ago, Biniam and I published our first blog post, explaining Citizen Codex (and ourselves) to the world. Since then, we haven’t stopped learning, sharpening our vision, and reshaping how we show up and fulfill that vision.

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2024 was a transformative year for Citizen Codex.  

• We collaborated with organizations like the Terner Center to turn their research into tools and stories that engage broader audiences.

• We designed and built the Humans of Public Service digital presence.

• We published 11 research products and stories, ranging from agriculture to congressional pay

• We developed two AI-driven software products—GovSkills and Hudson—to tackle public sector hiring challenges and affordable housing regulation.

• We expanded our team and celebrated two marriages, one college graduation, and one high school senior’s send-off.

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More importantly, we were reminded that we have good instincts. We learned to embrace our strengths instead of tying ourselves into knots about what we’re “supposed to do” as a start-up. We reaffirmed our conviction never to compromise our vision.

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Our obsession and our work—whether it’s building a RAG-based AI agent to understand affordable housing laws or designing the perfect data visualization to illustrate the impact of book bans—will always center on using data to make public systems more transparent and effective.  But this year, we finally found the language and structure to tie it all together.  

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Our work now falls into three clear pillars: Services, Ventures, and Research. Each one focuses on solving complex public sector problems, using data to uncover what’s valuable and build solutions around it.

• In Services, we support mission-driven clients through data, design, and enablement solutions.

• In Ventures, we incubate and invest in product start-ups with the potential for impact at scale.  

• In Research, we explore complex issues through independent data analysis and creative storytelling.

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As we look to 2025, we’re more focused than ever on scaling what works. We’ll continue to dig deeper into systems and problems where we know we can make an impact. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey—our clients, partners, team, and supporters. We’re excited for what’s ahead and can’t wait to share it with you.