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The latest news and announcements from Mayor London N. Breed

Mayor Lee Launches Code For America 2013 Partnership

October’s Innovation Month Kicks Off with Innovative Programs & New Mayor’s Innovation Fellowship Program

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced on the first day to kick off Innovation Month that San Francisco has been selected as a partner city for Code for America’s 2013 Fellowship Program. Through this program, Code for America will recruit top talent from the tech industry to give them a year in San Francisco, building civic software that will help create greater government efficiency, economic development, and citizen engagement.

“San Francisco is proud to have Code for America as part of our innovation ecosystem,” said Mayor Lee. “We have partnered with Code for America on many innovation initiatives, and we are very excited to continue to lead the way in driving solutions for tough social and civic challenges that will ultimately aid in building our economy, help generate jobs and further strengthen the bridge between San Francisco’s innovative citizens, private partners and local government.”

A San Francisco based nonprofit, Code for America collaborates with municipal governments to foster civic innovation. Over the past few years, Code for America has worked with dozens of cities and hundreds of developers to build innovative technology for government. This new partnership will bring the strength of Code for America’s program to focus on San Francisco, while also ensuring the creation of sustainable and scalable solutions.

“We are very excited to officially announce San Francisco, our home city, as a partner city in 2013,” said Code for America Founder and Executive Director Jen Pahlka. “San Francisco is a leader in the innovation world, and our fellows will have the chance to be at the forefront of that innovation. With Mayor Lee’s support, we look forward to continuing to build and strengthen our partnership with the City of San Francisco.”

Mayor Lee introduced his Mayor’s Innovation Fellowship Program during a Code for America event last week with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. The Mayor’s Innovation Fellowship is inspired by the inaugural White House Presidential Innovation Fellows and will allow qualified individuals to manage high impact innovative projects. The program is in partnership with City Hall Fellows, a novel program that looks to utilize great minds from all sectors to help San Francisco tackle some difficult issues. These fellows will focus on creating solutions to long-standing civic challenges.

Mayor Lee is taking a unique approach to engaging both the public and private sector in the Fellowship Program. Citizens will be able to apply to the program through City Hall Fellows program or the Sabbatical Program, in which private partners will lend the Fellow to the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation. This allows some of the brightest minds from the private sector to work within government.

For more about Code for America, go to: codeforamerica.org

For more about Mayor’s Innovation Fellowship Program, go to:innovation.sfgov.org/fellows

These innovation announcements comes as part of October as Innovation Month is a celebration campaign supported by the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, and launched in partnership with Golightly House, Gray Area Foundation for the Arts (GAFFTA), Office of Economic Workforce Development, sf.citi and San Francisco Travel. InnovateSF.com, the digital home of Innovation Month, will spotlight the organizations and entrepreneurs that make up today’s generation of disrupters, thinkers, and builders. Innovation Month will help tell the story of San Francisco as the best place to live, work and play.

For a full list of events, exclusive content and to learn more about October as Innovation Month, go to www.InnovateSF.com.