Matt Harder

Matt Harder is a founder and civic practitioner based in Denver, Colorado, working at the intersection of civic life, trust, and democratic participation. He designs and manages trust-building experiences between cities and residents that help communities work together to identify shared priorities and turn them into real, funded projects. Through his work, Matt has led participatory budgeting processes in cities including New York, Atlanta, and Denver, overseeing the allocation of more than $80 million toward community-designed, city-implemented initiatives. His approach emphasizes relationship-building and collaboration, resulting in deeper community partnerships and broader engagement than standard participatory models. Matt is driven by a commitment to improving how cities engage the public—not just to gather input, but to build lasting relationships that help institutions better understand and meet community needs. He is particularly focused on advancing practices that make civic participation more accessible, meaningful, and human-centered. Currently, Matt is working to make participatory budgeting more frictionless and widely adoptable, enabling more cities to begin their own journeys of democratic innovation and inviting residents to play an active role in shaping the places they live. Outside of his work, Matt enjoys hiking in the Colorado mountains around Denver and Boulder, where time in nature helps ground and inform his perspective on community, stewardship, and our shared institutions.