OpenSavannah announces inaugural advisory board to ensure ongoing organizational sustainability, growth into full maturity

First four advisory board members will help shape organizational future

Open Savannah Advisory Board (l-r): Sean Geng (CEO, Smoke Cartel); Kevin Lawver (CTO, Planted); Coco Papy, (Community Director, The Creative Coast), Saja Aures (Public Information Officer, City of Savannah).

Since our beginning a year ago, Open Savannah has been a hub of civic innovation. Charged with the goal of improving public access and participation for the digital age in Coastal Georgia, we’ve had more success the past year than I — or any of our Executive Leadership team — ever dreamed we would.

We’ve grown from a scrappy, vaguely-formed idea to a respected, well-known, and proven community organization — both locally and nationally as Code for America brigade — in less than a year. We held our first annual ‘Hack for Savannah’ civic hackathon, which drew out 9 teams and 45 participants for a weekend of civic problem-solving. We’ve held more than 100 community meetings at Bull Street Labs. We have a membership roster of close to 500 residents.

But, most importantly, we’ve begun to shift the dominant narrative about local government and civic engagement — from one of apathy and cynicism to one of determination and volunteerism. Most importantly, we’ve begun to sow the seeds of resident co-creation in the City of Savannah and Chatham County.

We are an all-volunteer organization as part of the Code for America network; all of our programs, meetings, food, supplies and other organizational operating costs have only been possible because of the generosity of local sponsors such as Enmarket and The Creative Coast.

When selecting and voting for our first-ever Advisory Board slate, we looked to bring on proven, dedicated, and influential leaders in four different sectors; (1) local government, (2) local community/nonprofit organizations, (3) technology leadership, and (4) local businesses whose social mission aligns best with our own work.

All four of our new Advisory Board members have proven their mettle as leaders in their respective fields, spreading catalytic change outside of the region while still remaining committed to making Savannah a more equitable, engaged, informed, and pleasant place to live and work for all residents.

(advisory board members below in alphabetical order)

THE ADVISORY BOARD (beta!)

In her role with the City, Saja oversaw the 2017 redesign of savannahga.gov and the rebranding of the City’s new visual iconography,

Saja Aures

Public Information Administrator, City of Savannah

Saja has served as a dedicated public servant for the City of Savannah for nearly 12 years, acting as the original force behind early movements for open data policy in Savannah in 2013. In her current role as an Public Information Administrator for the City, she wears multiple hats, from fielding open records requests, to coordinating with media outlets, to developing communication strategies for the City. Prior to her time in civil service, she served as an editor at CNET.com for four years, as well as started her own business.

Photo Credit: The Bitter Southerner

Coco Papy

Community Director, The Creative Coast and Bull Street Labs

Coco Is the Community Director at The Creative Coast, which has made Open Savannah possible from day one.

Coco, 32, embodies the spirit of social and civic entrepreneurship that lies at the heart of Open Savannah’s mission statement — and we can’t think of an individual more well-suited to advise our efforts and connect us with the right people in the Savannah community than her. An articulate speaker, a deep thinker, a tireless advocate for others, and a civic leader who heads up the Twickenham Square Neighborhood Association, we are excited to have Coco on board.

Sean Geng

Co-Founder/CEO, Smoke Cartel

Among the most impressive entrepreneurial success-stories in Coastal Georgia of recent years is Smoke Cartel, an e-commerce glass pipe seller and publicly-traded company based in Savannah whose motto “Glass for Good” signifies the company’s commitment to supporting restorative justice, ending the era of mass incarceration, reducing the number of people in Savannah living in systemic poverty, and making it possible for individuals with a criminal record for low-level, nonviolent offenses to get a second chance at life.

Its co-founder, Sean Geng, successfully pushed through City Hall an ordinance last month to decriminalize marijuana possession in the City of Savannah, and has also taken similar steps at a state level. Sean — a lifelong technologist who worked in the industry before starting Smoke Cartel — believes in using the tools, principles and practices of the Web era to create a more equitable and democratic society, starting locally in Savannah and scaling elsewhere. His successful entrepreneurship, visionary leadership, belief in government, and optimism about the power of technology and design to improve local communities makes Sean an obvious pick to help guide Open Savannah’s future.

Kevin Lawver

CTO, Planted.

Kevin Lawver is the Chief Technical Officer at Planted, where he helps connect people with jobs at startups using code. He’s the co-founder of TechSAV, Open organizer of the local RailsBridge chapter, runs Refresh Savannah, helps out where he can, advises startups on all kinds of stuff, and likes to bake. He believes citizens should have apps to oversee and utilize the services of *their* government that are just as good as apps for managing your household budget.