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About

About Code for Tampa Bay

Code for Tampa Bay Brigade is part of an international network of people committed to using their

Click for full overview of Code for Tampa Bay Brigade
voices and hands, in collaboration with local governments, to make their cities better. Code for Tampa Bay Brigade helps build participatory power in their cities by holding regular civic hack nights and events, advocating for open data, and deploying apps. Brigades celebrate and share their successes with the Brigade network to further the global civic innovation movement.

Please visit our MeetUp page to confirm dates and times, and keep up with upcoming events and projects.

Our Leadership Team

We’ve got a great core group of volunteers who help make Code for Tampa Bay possible.

  • Terri Willingham
  • Michael Bishop
  • Meg Comins
  • Michael Sunderlind
  • Tatyana Williams

Our History

Code for Tampa Bay Brigade was founded in 2012 by Terri Willingham, as part of the development of the HIVE makerspace project at John F. Germany Public Library. It was one of the earliest regional Brigades.It was originally called Code for Hillsborough, then we opted for the Tampa Bay identifier so that we could be more inclusive. The group hosted its first National Day of Civic Hacking event in 2014 and in 2016, hosted two NDCH events, including the first one ever in St. Petersburg.

The first Core Leadership team consisted of Terri, Chris Willingham, Phil Muino, and John Punzak, and the group met monthly at the HIVE.

Mike Turtora ran the Brigade from June 2017 to January 2018, with Michael Ritchie who upgraded website, & support from Michael Sunderland, and hosted a Zika themed NDCH event in 2017.

In 2018, Terri Willingham resumed leadership of the Brigade, with a new management team, and refocused mission and goals. Starting in May, Code for Tampa Bay will host two monthly meetings: 1st Mondays at the Hillsborough County Entrepreneur Collaborative Center, and 3rd Mondays at TEC Garage in St. Petersburg, as well having plans in place for two NDCH events and improved civic tech outreach and engagement year round.

Our Community Partners

See all of our partners on our Partners Page!

Our Projects

In addition to our regular meetups and annual events like National Day of Civic Hacking, we have a few ongoing projects that anyone can contribute to year round.  You can find a full list on our Projects page, that we’re adding to all the time.  One of our projects we’d really like help with is populating the Tampa Bay LocalWiki to help build a better landscape of our Tampa Bay economic, educational, creative and social community.  All are welcome to work on any existing projects or to suggest new projects.

Our Code of Conduct

Code for Tampa Bay operates as a Safe Space, A place where anyone can relax and be fully self-expressed, without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe on account of biological sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, cultural background, age, or physical or mental ability; a place where the rules guard each person’s self-respect and dignity and strongly encourages everyone to respect others.” – Borrowed from Advocates for Youth’s Website.

Code for Tampa Bay Brigade  abides by Code for America’s Code of Conduct, which expects that Code for America network activities, events, and digital forums:

  1. Are a safe and respectful environment for all participants.
  2. Are a place where people are free to fully express their identities.
  3. Presume the value of others. Everyone’s ideas, skills, and contributions have value.
  4. Don’t assume everyone has the same context, and encourage questions.
  5. Find a way for people to be productive with their skills (technical and not) and energy. Use language such as “yes/and”, not “no/but.”
  6. Encourage members and participants to listen as much as they speak.
  7. Strive to build tools that are open and free technology for public use. Activities that aim to foster public use, not private gain, are prioritized.
    Code for Tampa Bay Docs

     

  8. Prioritize access for and input from those who are traditionally excluded from the civic process.
  9. Work to ensure that the community is well-represented in the planning, design, and implementation of civic tech. This includes encouraging participation from women, minorities, and traditionally marginalized groups.
  10. Actively involve community groups and those with subject matter expertise in the decision-making process.
  11. Ensure that the relationships and conversations between community members, the local government staff and community partners remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
  12. Provide an environment where people are free from discrimination or harassment.

Code for America reserves the right to ask anyone in violation of these policies not to participate in Code for America network activities, events, and digital forums.

Anti Harassment Policy

Additionally, all Code for America network activities, events, and digital forums and their staff, presenters, and participants are held to an anti-harassment policy, which can be read in its entirety at https://github.com/codeforamerica/codeofconduct .