#148 Gathering a Tribe of Civic Innovators in San Jose, CA and The Atlas

Improving collaboration and innovation in local government. Ellory Monks from The Atlas and Kip Harkness, the Deputy City Manager of San Jose, CA, join GovLove to talk about their work. The Atlas is a marketplace for local governments to work together and learn from each other on infrastructure projects. Kip leads the Office of Civic Innovation in San Jose. They discuss everything from juggling fire and celebrity look-a-likes to improving procurement and email management. Topics Include: Lightning round (3:40), background from Ellory on The Atlas and how it was formed (12:25), what Kip learned working for PayPal (16:00), what Kip thinks innovation is (17:20), creating a place to fail forward (21:00), how Atlas and San Jose worked together (23:55), the office of innovation in San Jose (33:10), and what Kip and Ellory look for when they're hiring (43:20).