Welcome, and thank you for looking closer
If you are reading this, it is because I have asked you to consider a role in Civics Lab: on the founding board, as an advisor, or simply as someone whose judgment I trust and want in the room. The public pages lay out the idea. This space is for the work behind it: the projects underway, the documents, the tracking, the unfinished and sometimes messy reality of building something from the ground up.
I would rather show you that than a polished version. The real question is not whether the idea sounds good. It is whether the work is worth your time, your name, and your involvement. Take a look at what is here, and let us talk.
— Josh Daniels, Eugene, Oregon
Serving on the founding board
Not everyone reading this has served on a board before, so here is a plain account of what the role involves, and what it does not.
A governance role
The board's core work is oversight and stewardship: adopting the bylaws, guiding the mission, overseeing finances, and exercising the ordinary duties of care and loyalty that any nonprofit director holds. It is judgment and responsibility, not day-to-day operations.
A modest commitment
Oregon requires at least an annual meeting; Civics Lab sets its own cadence in its bylaws, and the intent is to keep it light. The commitment is measured in a few meetings a year and the attention to review what matters, not in weekly hours.
Hands-on help is welcome, not required
As the organization grows, board members who want to lend a hand, with a project, a connection, a skill, are always welcome to. But the role does not require it. Governance is the obligation; hands-on involvement is an option.
Networking, not fundraising
Board members are not asked to raise money. What helps most is judgment, credibility, and the willingness to open a door or make an introduction when it is natural to do so.
What the role does not require
It does not require full-time involvement, fundraising, expertise in every area, or a long prior history with nonprofits. It asks for honest judgment, a commitment to the mission, and enough attention to help steer the organization responsibly.
What is actually underway
Below are the active projects and the working records behind them. These are real, in-progress, and imperfect. They show how the Civics Lab method looks when it meets the friction of actual institutions.
Project 1 · Eugene EV Strategy accountability
A public records inquiry into whether the City of Eugene has assessed its 2030 electric-vehicle commitment against changed conditions. The records establish that no internal analysis of the changed conditions exists, which becomes the basis for the next action, a letter to the City Council.
Project 2 · Comcast broadband billing
A four-letter accountability package, to Comcast executive relations, the FCC, the Eugene City Council, and the Oregon Attorney General, addressing differential pricing and service practices in a market with little competition.
Links to the full working documents and tracking will be added here.