Reimagining a people-centered government that truly serves all
This initiative is focused not just on reimagining what a people-centered government that truly serves all people can look like, but also doing the work so that a reimagined democracy can be achieved in the future.
This starts with listening to the people and addressing the way the government functions – including the people who make up the government. Even before today’s federal workforce crisis, civil servants faced serious challenges, asked to deliver 21st-century outcomes using outdated systems, eroded protections, and talent pipelines that were never built for the scale, technology, or complexity of the moment.
Policies governing the non-partisan civil service haven’t been meaningfully updated in nearly 50 years. Many teams are organized in ways that don’t reflect modern ways of working. And public servants are often deprived of the connection with the people they serve, with too few tools to adapt or innovate.
Democracy Works 250 is changing that.
We are using this crisis as a catalyst for change. As the federal civil service continues to be weakened by the Trump-Vance administration, we’re laying the foundations for something new. We are building a people-centered approach to government by listening to the American people and what they want from their government, learning from former federal workers and those who the government has delivered for as well as failed, redesigning the systems, teams, and policies they operate in, and building a bench of talent empowered to deliver for everyone in the United States.
Together, we’re turning defense into design—to ensure that a future government can work for the people it represents.
Our Mission
Democracy Works 250 is focused on building a government that delivers for Americans by investing in the government’s greatest assets: the voices of the American people and the civil servants who power the work of government. Democratic government depends on two pillars—law and people. The law defines what the government must do; people determine whether it can.
That’s why Democracy Works 250 exists: to design the personnel systems, policies, skills, and operational strategies for a future federal government that can meet 21st-century democracy demands.
Reimagining a Government That Works for All
Every part of American life—from clean air and safe travel to quality education and healthcare—depends on the people inside the government. But for decades, those public servants have been working in systems that were impeding rather than advancing creativity and innovation. Now, they are being actively attacked by an administration that resists, rather than embraces, their experience and expertise. One that has not achieved efficiency but that has encouraged corruption. This moment demands a bold new vision for reform that puts the American people first, with civil servants working every day, in modern efficient systems, to make the lives of every American better than they were the day before.
The rules and structures that govern how people enter, grow, and lead in government are outdated and disconnected from how modern organizations function. Teams are often siloed, under-resourced, and burdened by too much process—making it harder to deliver for people in America.
At the same time, there are too few opportunities for federal workers to be heard—and too few feedback loops connecting government to the people it serves. When government leaders don’t listen to public servants or the communities they serve, they make it harder to solve problems together.
Democracy Works 250 is building a new foundation —one rooted in people: the public servants who make democracy function and the Americans who depend on them. We’re designing systems that are modern, flexible, and fair—so public servants can do their best work, and the public can see results that matter.
What We Are Building
This multi-year effort is building a people-centered engine for democratic renewal. Democracy Works 250 is structured around interwoven areas of work—each focused on a different lever for transformation.
Listening to the American People and Those Who Serve Them
We need to start with the basics: listening. We’re building a national infrastructure to capture the voices of public servants and the communities they serve—so that future reforms are grounded in lived experience, not assumptions.
Through large-scale interviews and public listening campaigns, we’re collecting the real stories of how government works—and where it doesn’t. This evidence will inform our reform design across this full initiative.
Designing the Teams Government Needs to Deliver
Even the best policies can’t succeed if the people implementing them don’t have the tools, skills, or team they need. We’re redesigning what government teams look like—reimagining roles, structures, and staffing models to reflect how the very best organizations operate today.
By mapping current challenges and building new team models in key operational areas—like Human Resources, procurement, community engagement, and regulation—we’re creating a modern template for how government should work. And we’re finding the real people who can succeed in those roles.
Reimagined Personnel Policy
The government cannot deliver on its mission if its internal operating systems are broken. Right now, the frameworks for hiring, performance, flexibility, pay, and advancement hold back creativity and innovation, and act as barriers to bringing Americans from every segment of our society into government.
We’re leading a collective effort to modernize these systems. Through coalition-led design cycles and collaborative policy sprints, we are surfacing bold new ideas and practical reforms rooted in lived experience—creating a clear path forward for modernizing public workforce policy.
Civil Service Defense and Innovation Fellowship
We’ve launched a new national fellowship for former federal workers through Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong initiative—bringing together a cohort of experts and leaders who have seen what works and what does not to lead applied research and build reform proposals.
These fellows are the connective tissue of Democracy Works 250. They bring lived experience, organize their networks, and translate insights into public narratives and actionable ideas.
Join Us
Sign up to receive updates on Democracy Works 250 and learn how you can be part of reimagining a government that works for all.
