What is Polco

Polco is a unified platform built to help local governments and public-sector organizations make better decisions — by connecting credible community data, validated resident input, and AI-powered insights all in one place.

At its core, Polco believes that good governance starts with understanding. Understanding what residents need. Understanding how a community compares to its peers. Understanding where resources should go and why. The platform exists to make that understanding faster, easier, and more trustworthy for the public servants and leaders who carry that responsibility every day.

Mission and Vision

Mission

Empowering Engagement. Improving Communities.

Polco exists to empower local governments and public organizations to engage residents in meaningful ways. By making it easier for people to share their perspectives — and for leaders to understand what matters most — Polco helps build stronger, more connected communities.

Vision

To be the most trusted partner guiding the public sector toward modern, data-informed governance.

Polco aims to serve as the central intelligence hub where public agencies can:

• Collect and interpret community sentiment, performance data, and actionable insights
• See the full picture of their communities through integrated resident feedback and performance metrics
• Strengthen institutional knowledge with tools that organize, preserve, and enhance local data
• Engage residents clearly and transparently, building trust through inclusive and meaningful communication
• Leverage safe, structured AI to amplify their capacity and accelerate public service delivery

What Polco Does 

Polco brings together four core capabilities in a single, integrated platform:

1. Data & Insights (Track)

Access comprehensive community performance data through GPAL (Government Performance Action Lab) — a national data consortium co-founded with Stanford, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and ICMA. Track data covers more than 10 community livability domains including Economy, Safety, Housing, Health & Wellness, Education, Mobility, and more.

Admins can compare their community against national averages, peer communities, and custom comparison groups — giving local decisions meaningful context.

2. Engagement Tools

Use polls, surveys, content posts, live events, and simulations to gather structured, representative feedback from residents. Polco's engagement tools are designed to reach all segments of a community — not just the most vocal voices — and are built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

3. Benchmark Surveys

Deploy professionally designed, nationally validated surveys through Polco's partnership with the National Research Center (NRC) — including the National Community Survey (NCS), National Business Survey (NBS), Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (CASOA), National Employee Survey (NES), and more. These surveys have been the gold standard in community benchmarking for over 30 years.

4. AI Assistants

Work with specialized AI agents built for public sector workflows:

• Polly
  answers complex data questions using GPAL indicators and local data, supports decision-making and reporting
• Grace
  assists with grant writing, from identifying opportunities to drafting narratives and budget justifications
• Custom AI agents
  trained on institutional data to serve as digital team members for specific departments or functions 

Who Uses Polco

Polco serves a broad range of public-sector organizations across the United States and internationally:

• City and county governments
  strategic planning, budget transparency, resident engagement, performance tracking
• State governments
  statewide engagement, legislative feedback, regional benchmarking
• School districts
  community input on education priorities, staff surveys, family engagement
• Public safety departments
  resident perception surveys, employee surveys, community trust measurement
• Economic development agencies
  business climate surveys, workforce data, economic indicator tracking
• Parks & recreation departments
  resident satisfaction, program feedback, facilities planning
• Nonprofits and public interest organizations
  community needs assessments and civic engagement initiatives

Polco currently serves more than 1,500 organizations, including over 400 U.S. cities and 8 states, and is trusted by organizations endorsed by ICMA, NLC, GFOA, and major academic institutions.

Why Governments Choose Polco

• All-in-one platform.
  Polco eliminates the need for multiple disconnected tools — combining data, engagement, surveys, and AI into one cohesive system built specifically for the public sector.

• Validated, credible data.
  Nationally benchmarked surveys and GPAL-powered dashboards ensure that every insight is grounded in trusted, peer-reviewed methodology.

• Representative input.
  Polco's engagement methods are designed to reach diverse community voices — not just the residents who show up to a meeting or the loudest voices online.

• AI built for government.
  Polco's AI assistants are trained on decades of public sector expertise and designed around the workflows, data types, and compliance considerations unique to government operations.

• Transparency by design.
  From public-facing engagement pages to shareable dashboard results, Polco makes it easier for governments to show residents how their input shapes decisions.

• Force multiplier for lean teams.
  Polco helps small and mid-sized government teams accomplish more — faster — without adding headcount. Whether it's automating data analysis, drafting grant narratives, or building a community survey, Polco's tools are designed to expand staff capacity. 

Polco's Core Values

• Empowerment
  Giving all residents a voice in decisions that affect their lives
• Integrity
  Providing data and insights that are accurate, unbiased, and grounded in trusted sources
• Transparency
  Making public sector decision-making open, understandable, and accessible
• Inclusivity
  Ensuring engagement reflects the full diversity of the community
• Privacy
  Protecting personal data and reporting results in aggregate form
• Collaboration
  Fostering strong partnerships between government leaders, residents, and community organizations
• Innovation
  Continuously improving tools and methods to help communities meet evolving challenges
• Impact
  Delivering outcomes that strengthen trust, improve quality of life, and create lasting change 

A Brief History

• 2016
   Founded by Nick Mastronardi and Alex Pedersen, inspired by collective intelligence and public sector innovation 
  
• 2019
   Acquired the National Research Center (NRC), adding 25+ years of survey science and benchmarking expertise 
  
• 2021
  Launched the GPAL Consortium with Stanford, UW Madison, and ICMA — unifying 400+ public data sources 
  
• 2022
  Launched Track dashboards and added interactive simulation tools for budget, housing, and prioritization 
  
• 2023 -  2025
  AI acceleration era — launched Polly, Grace, and custom AI agent infrastructure 

The Two Platforms

Polco has two distinct interfaces that work together:

• Admin Platform
  for government staff, analysts, and administrators. This is where you create and manage engagement content, view Track data, run benchmark surveys, and interact with AI assistants. Access requires a login with role-based permissions.

• Resident Platform
  the public-facing experience where residents can view and respond to polls, surveys, simulations, and content posts published by their local government. Most content is accessible without creating an account, though registration unlocks features like saving participation history and following specific projects.

Content published in the admin platform appears instantly on the resident platform. Results and data flow back to the admin interface for analysis.

Related Articles

• How the platform is structured
• Admin vs. Resident interfaces
• Navigating the admin dashboard
• Glossary of Polco terms