An idea whose time has come

COMMUNITY NEWS LAB IS A 501c3 NONPROFIT BASED IN SAN FRANCISCO.

MISSION

Our mission is to bring community information, belonging, and joy to San Francisco neighborhoods.

vision

We envision a future where residents in every neighborhood can access local information in public spaces, strengthening democracy, civic participation, and community connection across San Francisco and beyond.

values

  • ♥️ 🧠 Win hearts + minds: connect with people’s compassion and knowledge

  • 💡 Simplify: Make hard things easy.

  • ✨ Bring out the joy: Make boring things fun.

  • 💪 Empower: Elevate local voices. 

  • 👯 IRL: Promote in-person interaction.

  • 🤣 Laugh: Have a sense of humor.

core beliefs

  • Our public spaces can inspire us.

  • People want to help their neighbors.

  • People will engage with hard things if we make them easy.

  • People will engage with boring things if we make them fun.

  • Art makes people happy.

  • We can do hard things.

Who we are

We are a diverse group of social impact entrepreneurs, community builders, local news advocates, artists, and technologists who love San Francisco.

We are supported by dozens of volunteers from SF Civic Tech and Full Circle Fund. Our advisors are national journalism innovators and civic tech experts, along with San Francisco community leaders.

Leadership team

  • Julia Gitis

    FOUNDER

  • Max Lipschultz

    ENGINEERING

  • Maria Ines Montes

    PRODUCT DESIGN

  • Edward wu

    FABRICATION DESIGN

  • Vanessa Pimentel

    COMMUNITY OUTREACH

  • Francis Li

    CIVIC TECH

  • Sapna Satagopan

    STRATEGY