The Change Engine — Pitch Deck
The Change Lab Presents

The Change
Engine

Community life, organized.

A civic engagement platform organizing the path from curiosity to action across 312 focus areas of community life.

Fiscally sponsored by Impact Hub HoustonIdeas to Impact Tech Accelerator 2026
The Vision

What if getting involved in your community was as easy as finding a restaurant?

The Problem

Civic life is fragmented.

  • Volunteer opportunities scattered across dozens of disconnected sites
  • Social services buried in incompatible databases
  • Elected officials unknown to most constituents
  • No single source of truth for community engagement
The Opportunity

One platform.
Every pathway.

Learnabout issues that matter
Actthrough volunteering & events
Accessresources & services
Knowwho's responsible
How It Works

Four Centers. One Journey.

From curiosity to action—every pathway organized.

1

Learning Center

Understand the issues

  • Issue explainers
  • Legislation tracker
  • News & context
  • Research & data
2

Action Center

Get involved

  • Volunteer opportunities
  • Community events
  • Advocacy campaigns
  • Civic circles
3

Resource Center

Find support

  • Social services
  • Benefits navigation
  • Local nonprofits
  • Government programs
4

Who's Responsible

Know your leaders

  • Elected officials
  • Government roles
  • Contact info
  • Voting records
The Architecture

The Engagement Matrix

312focus areas×4journeys=1,248pathways
Learn
Act
Resource
Responsible
Our Health45 areas
Our Families44 areas
Our Neighborhood45 areas
Our Voice45 areas
Our Money44 areas
Our Planet44 areas
The Bigger We45 areas

Each cell = dozens of pathways: tailored content, actions, resources, and accountability.

Seven Themes of Community Life

Life, not bureaucracy.

Organized around how people actually think about their lives.

Our Health

45
focus areas
  • Healthcare access
  • Mental health
  • Substance support
  • Wellness

Our Families

44
focus areas
  • K-12 education
  • Childcare
  • Youth programs
  • Aging services

Our Neighborhood

45
focus areas
  • Housing
  • Public safety
  • Transportation
  • Community spaces

Our Voice

45
focus areas
  • Voting rights
  • Civic participation
  • Advocacy
  • Free expression

Our Money

44
focus areas
  • Jobs & workforce
  • Financial literacy
  • Benefits access
  • Economic mobility

Our Planet

44
focus areas
  • Climate action
  • Conservation
  • Sustainability
  • Resilience

The Bigger We

45
focus areas
  • Inclusion
  • Bridgebuilding
  • Civic culture
  • Belonging
= 312 focus areas mapped to UN SDGs, NTEE codes, AIRS/211, federal taxonomies
Who This Is For

Meet the people we serve.

Maria

Empty nester, Katy

"My kids moved out. I want to give back but don't know where to start."

Finds volunteer opportunities matched to her interests and joins a civic circle.

James

Young professional, Montrose

"I care about climate but there are so many orgs—I don't know which ones do anything."

Explores Our Planet, finds advocacy groups, sees which officials to contact.

Patricia

New resident, Spring

"I just moved here. I don't know what services exist or how to get connected."

Uses Resource Center for services, Action Center for events.

David

Business owner, Third Ward

"I want to support workforce development but don't know who's doing what."

Explores Our Money, finds training programs and responsible officials.

Technical Architecture

Built on real infrastructure.

Not another database—a data layer connecting authoritative sources.

Data Sources

Google Civic API
Congress.gov
Open States
VolunteerMatch
Eventbrite
FindHelp / 211
IRS BMF
Census ACS

The Change Engine

312 focus areas × 4 journeys
Unified civic engagement layer

Federal Standards

UN SDGs
NTEE Codes
AIRS / 211
SDOH Domains
FIPS Codes
CFDA Numbers
Built for interoperability—works with civic tech ecosystems, not against them.
Data Freshness

Live.

Real-time
Elected officials
Google Civic API
Daily
Volunteer opps
VolunteerMatch
Weekly
Social services
211 integration
Monthly
Nonprofits
IRS BMF
Annual
Demographics
Census ACS

Built on APIs, not static databases. Content simplified to 5th grade reading level.

Partner With Us

We're looking for partners, not just funders.

Funding Partners

Support shared civic infrastructure that benefits entire regions—not proprietary platforms that fragment the landscape.

Data Partners

211 systems, nonprofit networks, and government agencies who want their services discoverable and connected.

Pilot Partners

Communities ready to launch with us across the 18-county Greater Houston region starting Q2 2026.

Technology Partners

Civic tech organizations building complementary tools who value interoperability over competition.

Let's Build

Let's build civic infrastructure together.

Timeline

Q1 2026Complete accelerator, finalize MVP
Q2 2026Launch across Greater Houston
Q3–Q4Civic and Social Club pilot
2027Regional expansion

Contact

David A. Brown
Founder, The Change Lab
Fiscally sponsored by Impact Hub Houston
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