About Us

The Government Innovators Network is a marketplace of ideas and examples of government innovation for policy makers, policy advisors, and practitioners. Through our content — news, documents, descriptions of award-winning innovative programs, and events — and our online communities of practice, we strive to stimulate new ideas and bring people and ideas together around innovations in governance.

The Government Innovators Network was developed by the Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The Ash Center fosters excellence in government around the world in order to generate and strengthen democracy. Through its research, publications, curriculum support, and Global Network, the Ash Center explores critical issues in democratic practice and effective governance.

The Ash Center also administers the Innovations in American Government Awards Program. The Program identifies and promotes best practices and exemplary projects that can be adopted in other settings, providing public officials and senior executives with innovative leadership models. Since 1986, over 300 programs have been recognized and nearly $20 million in grants have been awarded.

By engaging a broad, global community in which knowledge is shared, by generating and supporting research and curriculum materials, and by highlighting exemplary government programs, the Ash Center serves as a catalyst for successfully addressing many of the world's most pressing concerns and, in turn, improving the lives of its citizens. The Government Innovators Network is just one of the initiatives supported by the Center in its efforts to strengthen understanding and stimulate discourse on the principles and practices of democracy.