Powering Civic Innovation
Across New York City
The Institute for Nonpartisan Innovation (INI) Collaboration Network helps faculty, students, and community partners discover expertise, build cross-campus partnerships, and turn research into real-world civic impact.
See how INI.network works:
Co-powered by CUNY campuses and Vngle: The Civic Insights Company, connecting fragmented academic and civic efforts into a unified innovation ecosystem.
“INI has changed livesby creating new ways for NYC to collaborate, while creating pathways for more of CUNY to discover the impact they can make in their communities.”
Why a CUNY-Centric Innovation Hub Matters
CUNY represents one of the world’s largest concentrations of public talent, research, and lived experience. Yet, valuable work often remains siloed across campuses, departments, and organizations.
The INI Collaboration Network creates a shared collaboration layer where institutions and communities can:
- ✓Discover aligned faculty, researchers, and civic organizations
- ✓Build interdisciplinary and cross-campus teams
- ✓Identify overlapping research and community priorities
- ✓Accelerate research into civic and policy impact
- ✓Strengthen partnerships between campuses and communities
A Unified Ecosystem
Connecting experts across NYC
Accelerated Innovation
From research to real-world impact
Civic Application
Empowering student & civic projects
Introducing INI at Baruch College through Dr. Angie Beeman’s Public Service Capstone course.
“We believe the future of civic innovation relies on making collaboration more visible, accessible, and actionable across NYC.”
What the INI Collaboration Network Enables
Connecting academic expertise, civic organizations, and community knowledge to create stronger opportunities and pathways for collaboration across New York City.
Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration
Connect people, expertise, initiatives, and opportunities across CUNY's campus system and NYC’s broader civic ecosystem.
Research to Civic Impact
Bridge academic research and lived experience with community-informed action and public problem-solving.
Community-Connected Innovation
Strengthen collaboration between campuses, civic organizations, community leaders, and the neighborhoods they serve.
By building connections across CUNY, we can help transform NYC into a more collaborative civic network
Collaboration Infrastructure for NYC
Built to make finding expertise, discovering civic work, and forming meaningful connections across the city easier.
Expert & Civic Directory
Search a growing network of faculty, researchers, civic leaders, organizations, and collaborators working across NYC.
Interactive Network Map
Explore people, organizations, initiatives, and collaboration opportunities across campuses, communities, and boroughs.
AI Collaboration Copilot
Get contextual guidance to discover people, projects, expertise, and potential collaboration pathways across NYC’s civic ecosystem.
Public Data Map
Access recent neighborhood-level civic information across NYC—connecting local representatives, community reports, and ongoing issues so you can better understand what’s happening.
Built to Strengthen NYC’s Civic Ecosystem
The INI Collaboration Network is more than a directory or project board. It is emerging civic infrastructure designed to help people and institutions across New York City discover one another, reduce silos, and collaborate around shared challenges.
Discover who’s working on what—and where you can plug in.