PERSPECTIVE | From community challenges to solutions: How co-governance leads to better results

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence raises a fundamental question: who gets to shape our democracy? Over the past 250 years, the answer to this question has shifted because people have fought for a more inclusive democracy. From labor movements to civil rights to the advocacy and leadership of Black, Indigenous, brown, and other historically marginalized communities, generations of people have pushed for more communities to have a say in the future of our nation.

This history fuels our drive to build on this foundation, challenging us to continue working to expand who gets to participate in the decisions that shape our future. This is where the value of co-governance becomes clear. 

Co-governance reimagines how we make decisions. It brings communities and government leaders together to share power, responsibility, and knowledge. People most impacted are not merely consulted — they have a meaningful role in shaping decisions that affect their lives.

It’s this shared vision that brought together Chicago United for Equity (CUE) and the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) for Chicago’s Co-Governance Initiative.  As partners, we created Chicago’s Co-Governance Framework to help us build structures where communities and government can solve problems together.

Today, three pilot initiatives are putting this approach into action with our support:

Reentry Services – support returning residents by bringing their lived experiences into funding decisions.

Urban Agriculture – create policy recommendations that reduce barriers for urban growers who are helping strengthen food access in their communities.

Electrification – build structures for communities to work with government to shape and assess building decarbonization beyond a single initiative or program.

These pilots are already demonstrating that co-governance leads to better decisions and stronger outcomes for complex public challenges. From the outset, pilot co-leads — staff from government departments and community-based organizations who guide the overall strategy and project management of pilot initiatives — raised critical questions, identified barriers, and shared perspectives that helped both community and government partners rethink assumptions and explore solutions that might not have emerged through traditional decision-making processes. 

Co-governance recognizes that lived experience is essential expertise; meaningful participation requires more than an invitation – it requires investment. To support the pilot initiatives, CUE and OERJ provide stipends for community members serving as decision-makers, prompting an additional Chicago nonprofit partner to match funding for the Urban Agriculture pilot. For too long, limited resources and procurement restrictions have been a barrier to compensating community members for their expertise and work. This response demonstrates how co-governance’s emphasis on collective power can shift long-standing barriers. As a result, more growers and farmers are helping set policy priorities, and their participation reflects genuine power-sharing rather than ‘checking a box’ engagement.

Creating the conditions for meaningful participation was the first step. With growers at the decision-making table, the pilot initiative has identified policy blind spots. One example emerged from Chicago’s weed ordinance (Municipal Code § 7-28-120) and the later Managed Native and Pollinator Garden Registry (Municipal Code § 10-32-055). In Chicago, property owners can receive fines of $600 or more for violations related to overgrowth. This ordinance was created with good intentions, such as promoting property maintenance and reducing safety hazards. However, urban farmers have noted that some of the plants cited as ‘weeds’ are actually native plants that support pollinators, improve soil health, and contribute to sustainable food production. Urban agriculture advocates successfully pushed for an amendment to the weed ordinance and established a new ordinance allowing property owners to register their native and pollinator gardens. However, the policy change has not entirely altered the process by which properties are fined. Without the perspectives of urban farmers, these unintended consequences often go unnoticed by policymakers. Growers continue to receive citations due to misconceptions about pollinator maintenance. This pilot group is now working to ensure these ordinances are implemented effectively so that growers can benefit from the protections they helped shape, demonstrating how co-governance strengthens both policy design and its implementation.

As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s crucial to acknowledge that the journey toward an inclusive democracy is ongoing. The emergence of co-governance as a transformative approach emphasizes our shared responsibility to foster a genuine partnership between government and community, marked by shared power. By prioritizing decision-making that actively involves those most affected by systemic inequities, we can build a more equitable and responsive system that improves outcomes across communities. Let us commit to investing in our democracy, ensuring every individual can shape the policies and solutions that impact their lives, moving us closer to the ideals upon which our nation was founded.

This piece is part of a narrative series around the case for co-governance led by Race Forward and Partners for Dignity and Rights.