Democracy That Works | July Meeting
TENTATIVE AGENDA
Building on our first brainstorming meeting, this meeting will look out at the future and creating a loose timeline of what we want to see and where we want to go from this group.
WHAT DOES COMMUNITY-LED DEMOCRACY LOOK LIKE?
Around the world, communities are finding new ways to involve ordinary citizens in shaping public decisions — not just through elections, but through citizens' assemblies, structured dialogue, and civic tech that actually levels up the collective intelligence of the system.
In Ireland, a citizens' assembly of randomly selected residents helped resolve one of the country's most divisive issues — marriage equality — when politicians couldn't. In Taiwan, a digital deliberation platform helped bridge deep divisions over ride-sharing policies. In Petaluma and Fort Collins, structured community processes transformed major local decisions in ways that left participants feeling genuinely heard.
San Francisco is far too quiet on these fronts. This meetup is about changing that.
WHAT WE'LL DO
We'll open with a short framing, then spend most of the time in conversation.
Topics on the table: citizens' assemblies, deliberative civic tech (like Pol.is), broad-based organizing, civic media, relational technology — and whatever else the room brings.
THIS IS FOR YOU IF:
· You care deeply about something local — housing, transit, schools, public safety — and feel like the normal channels aren't working · You're drawn to building, not just advocating · You believe ordinary people, given the right conditions, can solve hard problems together · You want to meet your co-conspirators in San Francisco
WHO'S CONVENING THIS?
Rahmin — a 20-year San Francisco resident, dad of three, and someone who works on upgrading democracy through BLOOM Project and American Public Trust. I'm hosting this as a neighbor, not on behalf of those organizations, because I believe SF deserves its own local community working on these questions.
Talulah - wastewater treatment engineer and young person invested in having some semblance of a future.