Your City Your Voice - Empowering Denver

Policy co-design is an approach where people who are impacted by a policy help shape it from the beginning, rather than only providing feedback at the end. Your City Your Voice is a citywide process to develop recommendations that improve how the City of Denver works with Registered Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs) and community members. These recommendations will inform updates to the ordinance that governs RNOs, with the goal of making it more useful, inclusive, and responsive for residents across Denver.

Radian is a Denver-based nonprofit with experience supporting equity-centered community engagement and planning across the city. Radian was selected to facilitate Your City Your Voice because of its experience working alongside both RNOs and community members and its ability to serve as a neutral, third-party facilitator. Radian’s role is to design and guide the engagement process, gather and document community input, and support dialogue, not to make policy decisions or advocate for specific outcomes.

RNOs play an important role in Denver’s civic landscape and bring valuable experience and insight into how the RNO ordinance works in practice. At the same time, the ordinance affects how the City engages with all residents, including those who do not participate in an RNO. Including both RNO members and non-RNO community members helped ensure the process reflected a full range of experiences and perspectives, supporting recommendations that are more effective, inclusive, and responsive to Denver’s diverse communities.

The Division of Community Empowerment is a newly formed division within the Office of Human Rights & Community Partnerships. Because the Division was still being established during earlier phases of Your City Your Voice, it was not directly involved at the outset. As the project moves into the recommendations and review phase, the Division is being engaged and may play a role in future implementation. City Council has expressed interest in collaborating with the Division as its role related to RNOs continues to take shape.

Community engagement was integrated throughout Your City Your Voice, not limited to a single phase or event. Engagement included surveys, facilitated meetings, discussion sessions, and outreach efforts designed to inform participants, gather perspectives, and support shared problem-solving. Community members and RNOs contributed input on challenges, priorities, and potential solutions, which informed the development of recommendations.

The process was designed using widely recognized engagement frameworks, including the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership and the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation. Participants were informed about project goals and timelines, invited to provide input through multiple formats, and engaged in dialogue-based sessions that supported learning, discussion, and collaboration. Additional opportunities to review and provide feedback on recommendations will occur before draft legislation is developed.

Equity and inclusion were central to the design and facilitation of Your City Your Voice. Intentional steps were taken to support meaningful participation from people with diverse backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences, including those who have been historically underrepresented in civic processes.

The process addressed power dynamics and participation barriers by using facilitated small-group discussions, community agreements to support respectful dialogue, and multiple ways to share input, including verbal and written formats. Engagement opportunities were offered both in person and virtually, at varied times and locations, and in accessible spaces. Materials and activities were provided in English and Spanish, with interpretation available during meetings. Practical supports such as food and childcare were offered when possible to reduce barriers to participation.

The Your City Your Voice report, which documents the methodology, findings, and outcomes of the policy co-design process, is expected to be released in mid to late March 2026. The report will be made publicly available and will include summaries of community input as well as underlying data collected through the process, to support transparency and public understanding of how feedback informed the recommendations.

The Your City Your Voice report will be presented to the Denver City Council Budget and Policy Committee in late March 2026. Committee briefings and City Council meetings are open to the public, with agendas posted in advance. Updates on Denver City Council meeting dates, agendas, and participation details are posted on the City Council website.

Yes. Community feedback has been collected throughout the process, and additional opportunities for public input will be available after the report and recommendations are released. Details will be shared publicly when those opportunities are scheduled. All future opportunities for engagement will be posted on the YCYV website, and shared through the YCYV newsletter.

Draft legislation is anticipated in Spring or Summer 2026, following internal city review. Once developed, the legislation will move through the City’s standard public legislative process, which typically includes a committee presentation, opportunities for public input, and consideration by City Council before any final votes are taken.

Community members and RNOs can stay informed through city communication channels, including the project website, email updates, and public meeting notices. Information about upcoming engagement opportunities, reports, and City Council discussions will be shared through these channels. Residents are encouraged to sign up for project updates and participate in future meetings or feedback opportunities as they become available.

Stay connected through the project email sign-up.