# Are we \_really\_ transforming government? Aligning values and measuring impact

 

 

Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

 By  [CivicActions](/civicactions)

At [DrupalGovCon](https://www.drupalgovcon.org/) 2019, CivicActions’ co-founder [Aaron Pava](https://civicactions.com/team/aaron-pava/) led a panel to discuss strategies for evaluating new projects with government partners. Aaron is an advocate of agile procurement practices and cultural change in government agencies, and served at the U.S. Digital Service in the Obama White House.

As founding members of the [Digital Services Coalition](https://digitalservicescoalition.org/#/), the firms represented on this panel are focused on improving lives by building user centered digital services — but not all projects are aligned with the values and practices that make this possible.

In this discussion, four civic tech leaders share frameworks for considering RFPs in terms of values alignment, incorporating team feedback, handling dissenting views within the team, and making the hard decisions when it’s necessary to say no.

Panelists:

[Aaron Pava](https://medium.com/@pava) — Co-Founder & CXO, CivicActions  
[Delali Dzirasa](https://www.linkedin.com/in/delalidzirasa/) — Founder & President, Fearless  
[Arden Klemmer](https://medium.com/@ardenklemmer) — Director of Product Design, &Partners  
[Dan Levenson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-levenson/) — Chief Strategy Officer, Agile Six

[Watch the recording of “Are we \_really\_ transforming government?” from DrupalGovCon, 2019](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjs1DovFxbc)

> “I want every one of our projects to be something we’re proud of.” — Aaron

**Highlights**

- 1:37 — Meet the panel: introductions
- 4:27 — ‘Should we do this?’ Fearless’ process for considering new projects
- 16:44 — How AgileSix protects their team’s talent density and company culture
- 20:00 — &Partners’ short list of what kinds of products are unethical
- 24:37 — Why representation on project teams shouldn’t be optional
- 27:32 — Using the CivicActions’ IMPACT scorecard to focus questions about RFPs and get team consensus
- 29:47 — Essential questions to consider when measuring IMPACT
- 33:18 — How to set up a simple IMPACT scorecard in Google Docs
- 35:08 — Discerning projects flagged as low value
- 36:33 — Letting the management team have the final say — while acknowledging the project team’s recommendation ;)
- 32:21 — Building relationships of transparency with government clients
- 42:37 — How a dedicated product owner indicates client commitment
- 44:55 — What to do if a project’s goals change and no longer align with your values

**Resources**

- [Digital Services Coalition](https://digitalservicescoalition.org/)
- [Agile Government Leadership](https://www.agilegovleaders.org/)

**Connect with Aaron**

- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronpava/)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/aaronpava)
- [Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/u/aaronpava)
- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pava)