This presentation gives an overview of the MyGovernment.org initiative and web platform for engaging citizens and their elected leaders in addressing issues that face our country.

1. Where citizens & elected leaders meet
to make change happen.
Internet & Politics 2008: Moving People and Ideas
Wednesday, December 11-12, 2008
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

2. Background
Obama's core idea is that citizens are at the center of
politics. Not private individuals, not the government,
not politicians, but people working together in public,
on public matters.
Campaigning in New Hampshire in 2006, he said,
quot;There's a wonderful saying by Justice Louis Brandeis once,
that the most important office in a democracy is the office
of citizen. ... All of us have a stake in this government, all of
us have responsibilities, all of us have to step up to the
plate.quot;
~ Peter Levine, blog Nov 5, 2008

3. What is MyGovernment.org?
• A digital quot;town hall forumquot; that activates
the average citizen to engage with
their own government leaders
• Combines tools and resources for informing,
engaging, and mobilizing
• A site from the citizen’s perspective — their
portal into civic engagement

4. Why MyGovernment.org?
• New relationship between citizens and their
elected leaders
• Platform to make our leaders and government
more transparent and accountable
• Maximize the current excitement and belief in
on-line tools as catalysts for off-line civic
engagement
• This could scale and become integrated into
every level of education and citizenship

5. What is MyGovernment.org?
Our Goal Our Approach
Informing debate and decision-
making by leveraging citizen quot;Wikipedia for policy optionsquot;
expertise
Citizen participation in policy
quot;Change.gov for every
making process by engaging
elected leader”
elected leaders
Effective change campaigns quot;My.BarackObama.com for
through community organizing every change campaignquot;

9. Jim Shue — South Orange, NJ

12. Content on MyGovernment.org
• Students in national Bonner campus network have begun
populating elected leader profiles and policy news &
options — integrated user submission option
• Using wiki approach to leverage citizen expertise for
PolicyOptions Issue Briefs — recruit issue area experts to
serve editorial function to ensure quality and neutrality
• Feeds from OpenCongress.org, OpenSecrets.org,
Congresspedia and other news and information sources
• Elected leaders and change campaign organizers will use
tools for sharing news and promoting engagement

13. Launching MyGovernment.org
• Mobilizing thousands of students in the 100+ Bonner campus
network to nudge their elected leaders to join
• High profile elected leaders inaugurate site — invited Mayor
Cory Booker (Newark, NJ) and placeholder for Republican
elected leader
• Press outreach — Jimmy Wales and Andrew Shue on TV-
newspapers, stories in Tech President & other popular blogs,
websites, etc.
• Hope to announce through My.BarackObama.com before
January 20, 2009 — outreach to 13 million supporters
committed to changing relationship between citizens and their
government

14. Campus Network Will be a Catalyst
see BonnerNetwork.pbwiki.com

15. Who’s leading MyGovernment.org?
• Andrew Shue — leader in internet entrepeneurship
(co-founder CafeMom.com and Do Something)
• John Palfrey — leader in internet and democracy
(director, Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society)
• Jimmy Wales — leader in democratizing knowledge
(co-founder, Wikipedia)
• Robert Hackett — leader in campus civic engagement
(founder, PolicyOptions.org & VP, Bonner Foundation)
• Henry Poole — leader in open source technology
(co-founder, CivicActions)

16. Lead Contacts
• Andrew Shue — aes@cafemom.com
• Robert Hackett — rhackett@bonner.org
• Henry Poole — poole@civicactions.com