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icitizen plans new civic engagement app for 2016

Jamie McGee
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Icitizen launched in Nashville in 2013 as a means to hold elected officials accountable and to better inform constituents on civic and political issues they care about.

Senior software engineer Josh Norman, left, and David Savage, director of web development, talk in the offices of icitizen, a company that developed an app that helps people follow politics and communicate with lawmakers.

Those priorities still exist, but a new emphasis on local communities has emerged. When its new version comes out in early 2016, users will be able to promote and track issues and communicate their concerns to government officials — from their council representative to their U.S. senator.

The new vision is led by CEO Russell Reeder, who joined the company in March, and he has 45 new employees to develop the enhanced product.

Reeder says the need exists for a community platform that will allow residents to share their perspectives on neighborhood initiatives as well as national issues. They could build consensus around sidewalks and schools, plus immigration reform and tax policy.

“There is no communication platform for constituents and government officials to collaborate,” Reeder said. “You’ve got Facebook for social, you’ve got LinkedIn for business. There is no community in civic network yet, and that’s what we are building.”

Russell P. Reeder is chief executive officer of icitizen.

Since launching, more than 150,000 users have downloaded the icitizen app. Reeder expects to increase that size to hundreds of thousands or millions with the new version. In January icitizen plans to announce which cities will implement the app.

“We saw tremendous success with people engaging on the issues that mattered to them,” Reeder said of the original icitizen app. "The people really wanted more."

The new app will allow users to search for an issue or create one to share with friends. Instead of physically gathering signatures for a petition to show to council members or legislators, they can do so easily online. When an issue begins trending on icitizen, they are placed on the relevant elected officials’ card, similar to a Facebook page.

For national officials, users can check voting history, sources of funding or district rankings in specific areas, such as health care, federal funding and employment. Conversely, elected officials can check constituents’ viewpoints and communicate with them through the app.

Software engineer Lola Shonaike is among the employees at icitizen, which has grown from eight to 57 workers in the past 11 months.

With a presidential election less than a year away, the new launch is pertinent, but Reeder says icitizen’s value extends beyond election seasons.

“Political awareness is high right now because you can’t run away from it,” he said. “Really our application takes over when the election ends. It’s how do they do their job; how do we let them know how to do their job.”

Icitizen, chaired by founder Duncan Dashiff, has stacked its board and advisory team with political and financial heavyweights, including investor Harry Jacobson, former Sen. Bill Frist, former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell and Republican strategist Vin Weber. Nashville entrepreneurs such as ConsensusPoint CEO Linda Rebrovick and Emma founder Will Weaver are also are among the company's advisers.

Mobile app iCitizen may change face of politics

To build the new app, icitizen has ramped up its team, having gone from eight to 57 people in the past 11 months. Most hires have been engineers, and six employees have moved to Nashville from out of state. Among them is Chief Technology Officer Alan Caldwell, who previously led mobile engineering at the Walt Disney Co., and Reeder, who moved from Redwood City, Calif. Reeder built his career at Oracle and has since led five other companies, including a startup that sold to GoDaddy.

Icitizen raised $3 million in October, bringing outside capital to nearly $13 million. The company acquired a team of data scientists through its acquisition of GovGraph in May and moved into a new office in SoBro.

“We are lucky enough to have some great financial backers,” Reeder said. “It’s a mission-driven company, so we’ve been able to go out there and hire the best of the best.”

Icitizen is free for citizens and elected officials, but they can choose to pay for some services. The company plans to generate revenue through polls, messaging and analytics as the business grows.

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.