Polco did not start with a product. It started with a problem.
Nearly a decade ago, two former Air Force officers, Dr. Nick Mastronardi and Alex Pedersen, saw something broken in how communities made decisions. Local governments were expected to solve increasingly complex challenges, yet they were often doing so without clear data, without representative public input, and without tools that helped turn insight into action.
The irony was hard to ignore. At the same time private-sector technology was racing ahead, many public institutions were still relying on outdated processes, fragmented data, and public meetings that captured only a handful of voices. The people closest to the problems were rarely part of the solution in a meaningful, scalable way.
Polco was founded in 2016 to change that.
The original idea behind Polco was simple, but ambitious. Better decisions happen when you unite people, data, and government.
The founders believed deeply in collective intelligence. Not as a buzzword, but as a practical principle. Communities work better when diverse voices are heard, when data is trusted, and when leaders have clarity instead of noise. That belief became the backbone of Polco’s mission and continues to shape everything we build today .
Early on, Polco focused on helping governments understand what residents actually experience day to day. Not anecdotes. Not assumptions. Real, representative insight. That meant investing in rigorous survey science, transparent benchmarking, and tools that respected both data quality and public trust.
Over time, the work expanded. Engagement moved beyond one-time surveys to ongoing conversations. Data moved from static reports to living dashboards. Budgeting moved from closed-door spreadsheets to shared tradeoff discussions. What started as a way to listen became a way to act with confidence.
As Polco grew, so did the complexity facing communities.
Housing shortages. Budget constraints. Workforce challenges. Declining trust. Rising expectations for transparency and responsiveness. Governments were being asked to do more, often with fewer resources, under intense public scrutiny.
Polco’s role became clear. Make the complex understandable. Make the invisible visible. Help leaders focus on what matters most.
This is where Polco’s guiding principles took shape. Data-driven excellence. Inclusive civic participation. Trust and transparency. Not as abstract values, but as product decisions, service standards, and long-term commitments .
The platform evolved to support the full arc of decision-making. Measuring community sentiment. Benchmarking performance. Exploring tradeoffs. Communicating outcomes. And increasingly, using AI responsibly to help teams move faster without sacrificing accuracy or trust.
At every step, the goal stayed the same. Help communities see clearly, act confidently, and build trust.
Today, Polco works with hundreds of local governments across the United States and beyond. Millions of resident voices are represented in the data that shapes real decisions. That scale matters, but the heart of the work has not changed.
Every data point represents a person. A neighbor. A family. A business owner. Someone who wants their community to be safe, affordable, welcoming, and resilient.
The future of Polco is not just about better technology. It is about deeper understanding. More inclusive participation. Faster learning. Stronger connections between people and the institutions that serve them.
As challenges grow more complex, the need for clarity grows even stronger. Polco is investing in tools that help communities anticipate change, not just react to it. Tools that help leaders explain tradeoffs honestly. Tools that help residents see how their input shapes outcomes.
The work ahead is not easy. But it is meaningful.
Because when communities are informed, engaged, and aligned, better decisions follow. And when better decisions are made, trust has a chance to grow.
That is how we got here. And that is why we are excited about where we are going next.