The Commons: A New Way To Engage Our Community
The Commons is coming soon as a practical layer for in-person community work: helping us listen faster, organize input clearly, and understand who is in the room so participation is more representative and heard.
Why The Commons
Most online tools optimize for attention, not alignment. The Commons takes a people-first approach inspired by its homepage principles: connection over clout, discovery over follower counts, and authentic participation over performative posting.
This is not a replacement for in-person engagement. It is a companion system that strengthens what already happens in rooms, workshops, and assemblies by making feedback cycles faster and easier to coordinate.
The Commons was created by Unify's Executive Director as an independent project, and we're now adapting its strengths to better support local participation and follow-through.
What To Expect
The launch focus is practical: support better meetings and deliberations with faster response loops, clearer coordination, and improved visibility into participation.
Quicker Feedback Cycles
Shorten the time from resident input to visible updates, responses, and next actions.
Better Deliberation Organization
Keep conversations structured by topic and decision stage so work stays focused and legible.
Representation You Can See
See participation patterns more clearly so outreach can be adjusted and voices are more equitably included.
How It Works In Practice
1
Host conversation prompts tied to real agenda items.
2
Gather and cluster responses quickly by theme.
3
Track who is participating and where gaps remain.
4
Publish clear updates so people see how input shaped decisions.
How It Supports Community Engagement
The Commons highlights a people-first connection model, proof of personhood, and tools built for curiosity over influence. We are applying those strengths to improve in-person civic process outcomes.
Enhance In-Person Meetings
Bring room-level input into one clear workflow so workshops and assemblies can move from discussion to decision faster.
Launch Direction
This announcement marks a coming-soon phase. We'll share access details, onboarding steps, and participation opportunities as rollout timing is finalized.
Preview
Introduce The Commons and align expectations around its purpose.
Early Access
Pilot with a small group, gather feedback, and tune workflows.
Community Rollout
Open participation more broadly with clear guidance and support.
Want Updates on The Commons?
We're building this to strengthen civic participation and make local collaboration easier for everyone.
Contact Us