City of San Rafael Launches ‘Ideas for Change’ Program with Change.org

In partnership with Change.org, the City of San Rafael is piloting a new initiative called Civic Dialogues to identify creative, community-driven solutions to local challenges.

From August 3 until August 30, all residents of San Rafael will have the opportunity to share their ideas for positive change in San Rafael and respond to their neighbors' suggestions at the Ideas for Change.org website. Shortly afterward, Change.org will identify the submitted topics that resonate most with all participants and assemble a group of residents from across the city for a dialogue to develop them into actionable proposals.

Through online forums and virtual dialogues, Ideas for Change hopes to identify what matters most to residents and points of consensus, which serve as critical information for policymakers to drive real change.

"I often hear from residents who have a good idea but aren't sure where it's supposed to go. Civic Dialogues creates an online space where the community can share ideas, build on each other, and really dig into the issues that matter most. I'm looking forward to hearing what residents want to see for our city." Mayor Kate Colin said.

Civic Dialogues is part of a broader City effort to strengthen how San Rafael hears from residents. The City's 2025-2028 Strategic Plan sets a goal of building an inclusive engagement program that reaches more of the community and makes it easier for residents to weigh in. That focus has been especially clear in the Canal neighborhood, where the March 2026 Collective Plans in Action report reviewed 436 initiatives across 20 plans. The report tracked which initiatives have been completed and which are in progress, and measured them against the priorities residents had raised over the years. Civic Dialogues brings a community-driven process to the whole city, inviting residents everywhere in San Rafael to share ideas and discuss solutions collaboratively.

Duncan Lockard, General Manager of Ideas for Change at Change.org, emphasized the importance of constructive dialogue in this process. He notes: "Change.org will host an online space where residents can not only share their own ideas on what would be good for the city, but support and build on others' ideas as well. Our process engages a wide net of community members and builds consensus around practical policy solutions. We are excited to engage residents of San Rafael and bring their ideas to city leadership."

You can visit the website and offer your ideas today, or vote on the ideas that have already been proposed by San Rafael residents: ideasforchange.org/sanrafael.