Case Study: City of Cambridge achieves broad community engagement and a transparent City Manager search with coUrbanize

Engaging the Entire Community to Find the Ideal Candidate for City Manager

The City of Cambridge faced the challenge of hiring a new City Manager in 2022 and wanted a more transparent, inclusive public engagement process than past opaque surveys and in-person meetings—especially during COVID and on a tight timeline. To reach a broader cross-section of residents and educate the public about the role, the Mayor’s Office partnered with coUrbanize and launched a dedicated project website on the coUrbanize platform alongside focus groups and Town Halls.

Using coUrbanize, the City launched a dynamic site in under two weeks, translated via coUrbanize’s Language Equity Plan, and collected 4,485 comments from 3,014 users across 4,722 sessions (51% positive, 44% neutral), with participants spending 2–3× longer than average on the platform. Those qualitative and quantitative insights were summarized and incorporated into a 12-page Leadership Profile for the job, making the search more inclusive and transparently shaped by resident feedback.

City of Cambridge