Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation: How It Works and How Atlantans Can Get Involved

The Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation (CCI) is a local hub where community members, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and public officials come together to tackle some of Atlanta’s toughest challenges—things like neighborhood displacement, inequitable development, and barriers to civic participation.

If you live in Atlanta, are visiting and interested in local issues, or are trying to understand how civic innovation works here, this guide breaks down what CCI does, where it is, and how you can plug in.

What Is the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation?

The Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation is a nonpartisan, community-focused organization that supports people and projects working to build a more equitable Atlanta.

Common Atlanta-focused priorities include:

• Neighborhood equity and displacement (especially in rapidly changing areas)
• Civic engagement and voter participation across the city
• Support for local leaders and social entrepreneurs who are rooted in the communities they serve
• Data and storytelling about inequality in Atlanta’s neighborhoods

Rather than acting like a traditional think tank or government office, CCI functions as a connector and incubator:

• It supports grassroots leaders through fellowships, training, and grants.
• It hosts events and conversations on policy and equity.
• It gathers and shares data to make local issues more understandable to everyday Atlantans.

Where Is the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation?

As of recent public information, the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation is located in Downtown Atlanta. Because office locations and hours can change, it’s best to:

• Check their current address and hours before you visit.
• Confirm whether visits are by appointment only or open to the public for events.

If you’re using MARTA, look for stops near Downtown, Fairlie-Poplar, or the Government District, as many civic-focused organizations cluster in that area.

What Does CCI Actually Do in Atlanta?

1. Supports Local Civic Leaders and Community Projects

CCI often works with:

• Neighborhood-based organizers
• Social entrepreneurs focused on equity
• Nonprofit leaders
• Residents with lived experience of the issues they are trying to solve

Typical support might include:

• Fellowship or leadership programs
• Training in advocacy, organizing, and storytelling
• Small grants or funding support for community-based projects
• Mentorship and peer networks connecting leaders across the city

If you’re an Atlanta resident with a project idea that addresses a local problem—like food access in Southwest Atlanta or displacement pressures on the Westside—CCI may be one of the places you look to for skill-building, visibility, or collaboration.

2. Hosts Public Events and Civic Conversations

Throughout the year, the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation organizes:

• Public forums and panel discussions on Atlanta-focused issues
• Workshops on civic engagement, community organizing, or local policy
• Listening sessions where residents can share their experiences with policymakers and city leaders

Topics often include:

• Atlanta’s housing affordability and displacement
• Elections and civic participation in metro Atlanta
• Economic and racial inequality across neighborhoods

These events aim to be accessible to everyday Atlantans, not just experts. If you’re trying to understand what’s happening in the city beyond headlines, attending one of these events can give you real local context.

3. Provides Research, Data, and Storytelling About Atlanta

CCI frequently works with maps, data, and neighborhood stories to help people understand how policies and development decisions affect Atlanta communities.

They focus on:

• Geographic disparities between neighborhoods
• Historic patterns of inequality that still shape life in the city
• Real stories from residents that go beyond statistics

For Atlanta residents, this kind of work can help answer questions like:

• Why do some neighborhoods have more resources than others?
• How does development around projects like the BeltLine impact long-term residents?
• What does civic engagement actually look like at the neighborhood level?

Public-facing materials may include briefings, visual maps, or summaries that translate complex policy topics into plain, locally grounded language.

4. Bridges Atlanta Residents and Public Institutions

A core part of CCI’s mission is to make civic participation feel more reachable. That can look like:

• Bringing local policymakers, city staff, and residents into the same room
• Helping residents understand how to navigate City of Atlanta government
• Creating spaces where people most affected by policy decisions can speak directly to decision-makers

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by Atlanta’s civic landscape—multiple agencies, boards, commissions, and nonprofit coalitions—CCI is one of the organizations that tries to simplify access and explain how the system fits together.

Who Is the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation For?

The Center is designed for a wide range of Atlantans, including:

• Neighborhood residents who want a stronger voice in what happens on their block
• Local leaders and grassroots organizers seeking training or support
• Students and young professionals interested in public service or social impact
• Nonprofit staff and social entrepreneurs working on issues like housing, food access, or civic engagement
• Public officials and city staff who want direct, structured ways to hear from communities

You don’t need a policy degree or special background to get involved. Many people are first introduced to CCI through a public event, town hall, or workshop.

How to Get Involved if You Live in Atlanta

Here are common ways Atlantans connect with the Center for Civic Innovation:

1. Attend a Public Event

Look for:

• Community conversations about local elections, housing, or neighborhood change
• Workshops on civic engagement or storytelling
• Panel discussions featuring Atlanta-based community leaders and organizers

Events are often held in or near Downtown, with some sessions occasionally hosted in neighborhood-based spaces or virtually.

2. Apply for Leadership or Fellowship Programs

If you’re actively working on a project that serves an Atlanta community, CCI sometimes offers:

• Fellowship programs supporting local leaders
• Training cohorts that run for several weeks or months

These programs may include:

• Group learning sessions
• Technical assistance (like budgeting, communications, or impact planning)
• Opportunities to present your work to community members and partners

This route is more in-depth than simply attending an event and is typically aimed at people who are already doing work on the ground in Atlanta.

3. Partner as a Community Organization or Institution

Nonprofits, universities, or local initiatives in Atlanta sometimes:

• Co-host events
• Collaborate on data projects or research
• Connect their participants to CCI workshops or civic education efforts

If you’re part of a local organization trying to deepen community engagement or connect with citywide equity conversations, CCI can sometimes act as a bridge or collaborator.

4. Stay Informed About Atlanta’s Civic Landscape

Even if you’re not ready to attend events, CCI can be a helpful information source about:

• Election-related civic information in Atlanta
• Where civic engagement feels blocked and where it’s growing
• How residents across different neighborhoods are organizing around local issues

For someone new to Atlanta or newly interested in local issues, following their public-facing work can be an easy way to understand what’s happening beyond your immediate neighborhood.

How the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation Fits Into the City’s Civic Ecosystem

Atlanta has a dense network of groups focused on civic life, including:

• City of Atlanta government offices (City Council, Mayor’s Office, Neighborhood Planning Units)
• Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs), which are community-based advisory councils
• Civic and community organizations across the metro area

Within that landscape, the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation generally focuses on:

• Equity: Centering people and neighborhoods most affected by inequality
• Innovation: Trying new approaches to public problem-solving
• Access: Making civic engagement easier to understand and more welcoming

It doesn’t replace NPUs, City Council, or formal government processes. Instead, it works alongside them, helping regular Atlantans build the skills, networks, and context to show up more effectively in those formal spaces.

Quick Summary for Atlantans

Below is a simple overview of what the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation offers and who it’s most useful for:

If you live in Atlanta and want to move from “concerned about the city” to actively involved in shaping it, the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation is one of the local hubs designed to help you take that step in a structured, community-centered way.