SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accela, the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government agencies, today announced Lawrence Grodeska has joined the company to grow the capabilities and adoption of the Civic Hero application. Grodeska will serve as Senior Product Manager for Civic Hero and engage with government agencies and citizens alike to increase the number of people and cities that use the app to improve their communities.
Civic Hero gives citizens an easy way to report community issues such as graffiti, potholes or damaged public property to the local government. By simply selecting the type of issue being reported and snapping a quick photo or adding a comment, the app will send the report directly to the appropriate government agency and track the status. Citizens can also review and comment on issues reported by others in the community.
“Lawrence comes to Accela with great government and social media experience, and understands the importance of open data and civic apps in regard to connecting government with citizens,” said Maury Blackman, Accela President and CEO. “We look forward to having Lawrence work alongside agencies, developers and citizens to address community issues through Civic Hero.”
Grodeska is a government engagement specialist passionate about civic innovation and open government. Most recently, he was the Nonprofit Community Director at Change.org, where he grew the community of nonprofit, political and social enterprise organizations engaged with the Change.org platform.
Grodeska is also co-founder of CivicMakers, a new community of creative, passionate citizens building a better democracy everyday, at every level of society, from our technology and governments, to our communities and workplaces.
While with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, Grodeska managed EcoFinder, a web service and iPhone app that provides information that helps residents properly recycle and dispose of unwanted materials. He also founded and led a multi-agency collaboration to develop a next-generation recycling information platform.
“Accela’s growth makes it a perfect time for me to join their team,” said Grodeska. “I’m enthusiastic about joining Accela’s drive to lead the civic tech movement and helping improve government outcomes through better technology that increases citizen engagement.”
About Accela
At Accela, we believe that engagement makes all the difference. We’re ushering in a new era where democracy thrives when government works directly with the people, coming to citizens on their terms through mobile devices, social media and networks, and open data. By streamlining critical agency functions like land, asset and right of way management, licensing, legislative management, recreation and resource management, citizen relationship management and environmental health and safety, the Accela Civic Platform bridges the gap between agencies and citizens. We help build better communities by powering thousands of services and millions of transactions daily for agencies of all sizes.
Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and Dubai. For more information, visit www.accela.com.
