Our story
We connect Americans with the information they need to become and remain civically engaged, and ensure that our elections are more professional, inclusive, and secure.

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.

100 +

Years of organizational experience in voting and elections

11

Cities across the country where CTCL team members are based

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.

250 million+

Times CTCL candidate and elected official data has been accessed

80 million+

Citizen voting age population served by CTCL trained election officials in 2018

90,000 +

Candidates in CTCL’s 2018 Ballot Information Project dataset

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.

Headshots of CTCL's 3 founders

 

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.