In March 2016, then-Mayor Kevin Johnson started the Sacramento Mayor’s Office of Innovation. The plan was for this office to take Sacramento to the next level and make it a hub of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. Johnson chose Abhi Nemani, who was previously the chief data officer for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and a leader of Code for America, to get his Office of Innovation off the ground.
Shortly after Darrell Steinberg was sworn in to succeed Johnson as mayor in December 2016, he said in a press release, “Sacramento is ready to be a test bed for innovation.” Steinberg kept the office, planning to use it to support technological, cultural and economic growth. Steinberg helped introduce programs such as the $1 million Rapid Acceleration, Innovation and Leadership (RAILS) Grant and the Creative Economy Grant of $500,000.
Nemani left his position as chief innovation officer after holding it for about a year. Louis Stewart was appointed just last month to serve as the office’s head.
Grants such as RAILS and Creative Economy are part of the office’s overall plan. They “can actually go out to individuals who have something they want to express,” Stewart said. “There’s a series of micro-grants and a couple on the larger side that can be combined to do a community art project.”
The office is also working with the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council to attract businesses from outside the area and build talent pipelines with UC Davis, Sacramento State and the area’s community colleges.
“Shifting to the partnership model” with the city’s economic development groups also allows the office to work with the Thousand Strong and Summer at City Hall internship programs, furthering the talent development goals.
“What I see as our job in City Hall is to do the retention [and] expansion,” Stewart said. “So let’s build the ecosystem that people want to stay, and when people on the outside are looking at Sacramento, they see something they want to come to.”
The first focus of the Office of Innovation is good investment strategy and partnerships. They will be working hard to find smart ways to work with venture capitalists in Sacramento, California and nationwide to put the city on the map.
The second focus is to engage the broader tech ecosystem. In addition to the RAILS Grant Program, goals include creating a Tech Council of leaders in the area who are eager to help form policy around tech and innovation, and widely engaging the tech community in the area.
Their third focus is to change City Hall so it is “open for business.” This would include working with the IT Department, Economic Development Department and the Community Development Department to make business easier to do in Sacramento by putting out customer-friendly online services.
