Maria and Ana went to the budget meeting on Tuesday. They brought three neighbors. Maria printed the leadership scorecard from this page and filled it out before they walked in: Kept Promises — 2 out of 5. Listened — 1 out of 5. Delivered Results — 1 out of 5. When the alderman said "we're working on it," Maria held up the card and said "working on what, specifically?"

The room got quiet. Then someone else raised their card. Then another. Three months later, the streetlights were fixed.

It wasn't the card. It was that the card gave people a language for what they already knew.

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Community Tools

Leadership Evaluation Live

Did they do what they said? Did they listen? Did they explain? Plain criteria that anyone can understand. Every member of a group scores independently. Scores combine into a composite — no one person dominates the result. Templates for alderpersons, block captains, board members, program directors, principals. Printable scorecards.

Is What We're Doing Actually Working? Live

When a community puts effort into something — a program, a project, a plan — this tool helps see whether it's making a difference. What's improving. What isn't. And what to try next. The answers go back to the community, not up to an office.

Community Dashboard In development

Traffic-light view of how your community is doing. Green means things are working. Yellow means something needs attention. Red means action is needed. Simple enough for a block club meeting. Backed by real data.

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How It Works

Every tool on this page runs on the same idea. How is this supposed to work. Where is it not working the way it should. What can we do about it.

For a leader: What did they promise to do? What didn't happen, or happened differently than promised? What should happen next?

For a program: What was this supposed to accomplish? What results are we actually seeing? What should we adjust?

The community does the evaluation. The community owns the results. The tools just make the thinking visible.

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Governance Resources

Decidim Free

Open-source participatory democracy platform used by 400+ municipalities worldwide. Supports participatory budgeting, assemblies, consultations, and proposals. Used by New York City and Barcelona.

Loomio Free 30+ languages

Collaborative decision-making for groups. Discussions, proposals, and multiple voting methods. Works for groups of 5 to 1,000+. Run as a worker cooperative. Open source.

Police Scorecard Free

Data on 16,000+ law enforcement agencies. Use of force, accountability, funding, and outcomes. Search by department. Linked to action.

Stanford Participatory Budgeting Platform Free

Free tool for participatory budgeting — communities decide together how to allocate money. Used by schools, neighborhoods, and municipal governments.

📺 Watch: How to Read Your City's Budget

Strong Towns — step-by-step walkthrough of a real municipal budget. Where the money goes, what the numbers mean, and what to ask.

Strong Towns · 70 min 💬 Discuss budgets & accountability →

📺 Watch: The Elements of Mutual Aid

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief — how communities organize to take care of each other when systems fail.

MADR · Docuseries 💬 Discuss self-governance →

Maria needed food. She found it. She needed to understand her rights. She learned them. She needed her neighbors. She found Ana. She needed her leaders to do their jobs. She held them accountable. None of this required money, a degree, or permission. It required tools that were free, honest, and built for people like her.

That's what CommUnity OS is. Not a product. Not a service. Infrastructure that belongs to the people who use it.

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Every tool on this site is free. No account. No data collected.