2025 Annual Report

Message from our Executive Director

2025 was a year of transformation and resilience. Soon after inauguration day we saw thousands of federal employees terminated from their jobs, with many more who were asked to complete burdensome and at times unethical tasks, oftentimes leading to anxiety, fear, and burnout. 

We collectively responded to unprecedented challenges facing our community. We provided sponsored memberships to nearly 200 colleagues in need, produced resources to help people understand their rights, and created spaces for mutual support. Folks from at least 26 different federal agencies sought our help. I’m grateful to say that more than 40% have since started new jobs, with 75% of those jobs being in a public interest tech career. And, 25% of those in our mentorship program had jobs by the time they left the program. 

In a community pulse survey we conducted last fall more than 75% of respondents told us that connecting with others (particularly in-person) and building their network is the number one thing they need. What gives me hope is how our community shows up for each other, and that we can help provide platforms to do so. As one community member told us, "I truly cannot tell you how thankful I am to be part of this resilient community. I'm grateful to not feel alone." 

Thank you for being a part of the community and for your dedication to public service.

Reilly Martin

TPG by the numbers

Our 2025 Highlights

Our mentors hailed from impressive jobs such as Senior Advisor in Emerging Technology with the City of Boston, Chief Technology Officer for Allegheny County Department of Human Services, former DHS AI Taskforce Lead, and Senior Customer Experience Designers.

We saw some amazing outcomes from our mentees. With support from their mentors, more than 25% of mentees secured jobs by the end of the program. And many more found added clarity and renewed purpose in their career trajectories and opportunities. Learn more the about experience from mentorship pairs:

“One of the most intentional community building tech conferences that I've attended. 10/10 no notes." - Attendee

These events wouldn't have been possible without the support of community volunteers and sponsors. We’re looking to expand these events to new cities in 2026. Get in touch if you’d like to support bringing them to your community.

Virtual Events

TPG hosted 26 virtual events in the first half of the year alone, including fireside chats with leaders, workshops on contracting in the field, discussions about accessibility, and debates on the ethical limits at work. We also maintained a strong presence at major industry gatherings, hosting capacity-filling sessions at the Code for America Summit 2025.

With a few exceptions, virtual event attendance was low across the board. In looking at events with high attendance, a few trends emerged. Events focused on supporting job seekers were popular, given the nature of the current civic tech job market and the large population of people in our community who are looking for work in the field. Events with singular speakers, particularly speakers with their own audiences and/or that are outspoken, were also more highly attended.

In 2026, our goal is to host fewer events online and instead support more local organizers to host in-person gatherings. We also will strive to create interesting content that virtual audiences can access at their own pace, with opportunities for asynchronous engagement.

Stories From the Community

The power of collective action is made more powerful through storytelling. Our three-part “Year of Change” series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), our pilot podcast, and our ask-me-anything series explore the evolving civic tech landscape and how community members have been personally affected by the actions being taken by a rapidly changing federal government. In 2026, we’ll continue to share stories of the community on our various platforms, including Bluesky which we joined in 2025.

What it takes to keep this work going

A primary goal for TPG since its inception has been to become self-sustaining. We seek to be less than 50% reliant on philanthropic grants by 2028. We know that in order for this work to survive we need to collective investment in ourselves and in the field, and have a well-rounded Board (of whom we welcomed Jacky Chang to in 2025) that bring guidance, expertise, and representation from across the field.

Paid Membership Model, One Year In

In October 2024 we moved from a free to a paid membership model. We’re grateful to have 575 paid members, with more than 60% paying at full price, enabling us to fund some parts of the work from direct support from our community, which is particularly important in a time when grants and government funding are uncertain at best.

In order to keep showing up in the community at a rate that we have been we do, however, need to quadruple the number of paid members in the coming years, and we need your help doing so–join us and renew. Not sure if you're a paying member, double check.

As part of this model we don't intend to leave anyone behind. To-date we've been able to offer nearly 200 sponsored members to folks in need, including former federal employees from 26 federal agencies. More than 40% of our sponsored members have started new jobs since joining TPG, with 75% of those jobs being in a public interest tech career. We're incredibly grateful to all those who donated to support these sponsored memberships, particularly in the wake of federal mass terminations, funding freezes, and contract cancellations.

Structural Innovation

Beyond memberships we’ve seen members of our community want to support this work on a grander scale. In addition to keeping our 501(c)6 association status, in late 2025 we established the Technologists for the Public Good Fund, a 501(c)3 fiscally sponsored project of the Social Good Fund. This Fund operates alongside our 501(c)(6) association, allowing us to pursue a larger swatch of charitable grants and enabling us to accept individual tax-deductible gifts.

Demand for what we offer far exceeds our current capacity 

This is a message you’re likely hearing from many nonprofit organizations right now. We know supporting causes in your local communities is important, and we hope that you’re able to support us alongside other organizations.

We're at an inflection point as an organization — balancing what we can do to keep services going, and at an affordable rate, while knowing it takes real investment to build and maintain a reliable, safe community; run events; and deliver programs that lead to outcomes like we’ve seen.

100% of our Board and staff have made financial contributions to the future success of TPG, and we hope that you’ll consider doing the same. By partnering with us, you’ll help create a platform for groundbreaking ideas, foster meaningful collaboration among technologists, and drive real-world impact on public service. Your support will help reshape the future of public good.

Past reports: 2024 | 2023 | 2022-2023