In city halls across the country, a quiet transformation is underway.

Thousands are proving that entrepreneurial, people-centered government is possible, and it couldn’t come at a more important time. Americans are used to describing the public sector as siloed, rigid, bureaucratic and unresponsive, and their trust in government has declined rapidly over the past two decades.

Cities remain a crucial bright spot. City-level innovators are starting a new era of leadership — part strategist, part catalyst, part designer and part bridge-builder. And if we’re going to build on what is already working in government, it’s important to understand who these leaders are and how they work differently.

By most accounts, the first wave of public-sector innovation leaders emerged between 2009 and 2011 — including offices and roles dedicated to innovation

Port St. Lucie launched a resident-driven conservation program based on 2023 Citizen Summit input, preserving over 5,000 acres and expanding more than 20 miles of trails over the following two years. Baltimore addressed a shortfall of 900 police officers by fixing hiring process breakdowns, which contributed to a 47 percent increase in new hires. Philadelphia’s innovation team linked home repair with workforce development and vacant lot revitalization, drawing on thousands of insights from earlier innovators. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is modernizing public health data systems by adopting the FHIR standard to improve interoperability and outbreak response, supported by the CDC Foundation’s Workforce Acceleration Initiative. The Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation continues to support a network of more than 2,000 public innovation professionals established since 2009–2011.

Montana’s governments could find lessons in these initiatives, particularly in balancing resident input with operational efficiency.

America’s most important innovation happens in City Hall
By Francisca Rojas, Route Fifty

How Boston modernized its hiring infrastructure to attract talent