Human Listening + Machine Learning

We enable civic networks by combining the ancient wisdoms of human dialogue with the growing analytic and connective power of modern technology.

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The Latest from Cortico

Cortico’s Voices Lead the Way: Revitalizing Blue Hill Avenue

Cortico’s “Real Talk” collaboration leads to a $44 million urban revival, showcasing the power of real community engagement in Boston.

How to Tackle Truth Decay – Cortico CEO in The Atlantic

Cortico’s CEO Deb Roy explores the disintegration of trust in expertise and society’s slide into doubt. Discover how Cortico’s Fora platform is part of the solution, fostering dialogue to mend the social contract of trust.

Advancing a People-First Economy

How Cortico’s platform empowered deep conversations across America, unveiling underheard voices and shaping a future of economic inclusivity.

> Learn more & explore the final report of the Commission on Reimagining Our Economy 

Voices: Cortico’s latest newsletter

Celebrating a year of enhancing community trust, empowering changemakers, and shaping a more empathetic, connected world.

> Read Voices now

READ: Cortico in The Atlantic

Today’s social platforms are designed for spectacle and entertainment—but we believe it’s not too late to build a platform that improves society.

> Cortico CEO Deb Roy’s recent article in The Atlantic.

WATCH: Democracy360

On October 19, Cortico CEO & Co-Founder Deb Roy joined the main stage with Alexis Ohanian and Kara Swisher for Democracy360’s panel on Big Tech’s Effect on Democracy.

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Who We Are

“Hearing the humanity of others is essential for democracy to function.”

Deb Roy, Co-Founder & CEO, Cortico


The deterioration of social and institutional trust is accelerating. It is clear that people are tired of not feeling heard and want brave leaders who listen and respond to their communities’ needs. 

Cortico’s vision is to become the platform that: surfaces underheard voices rather than the loudest; facilitates sharing experiences rather than battling opinions; and promotes empathy and connection rather than division and intolerance.

We believe 

 

Technology can be leveraged to bring people together through intentional design.

Civic life can be revitalized when we build space for constructive communication.

 

Democracy can be strengthened by opportunities for meaningful personal action.

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What We Do
We provide a new conversation platform for listening, understanding, and sharing

We are enabling new civic networks where individual perspectives, grounded in personal stories, spark more informed and transparent actions within the community and from its leaders.

Through a powerful combination of deep human listening and AI tools, Cortico enables organizations to make sense of the conversations they collect, surfacing underheard community voices into decision making – with authenticity, nuance, and transparency that surveys and focus groups cannot match.

Learn more about our unique platform below.

Deep human listening +
AI tools

We know the tools of public discourse have been weaponized to divide us. These times demand stronger civic spaces.

Cortico’s Fora brings people together in recorded small-group conversations to share life experiences, lift underheard voices, and guide informed action.

By helping build trust from one community to the next, we are shoring up the nation’s democratic foundation.

 

Deep human listening +
AI tools

Our Partners

We enable partners to understand community sentiment at scale to help them

 

Hire leadership
Inform public policy
Resolve conflict
Empower young leaders
Enhance journalistic integrity
Improve workplace culture
Our Partners

We work with partners across

sectors including

Local Government

to surface underheard voices and build more transparent, trusted, and responsive feedback channels

Media

to understand community interests and concerns and build trust between journalists and the people they serve.

Youth

to create a more constructive communication channel that empowers young people to use their voices and be leaders in their community.

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WHO WE REACH
100+
Partners
40+
US States
60+
Countries
Our Impact

We enable civic networks that translate community voices into actionable insights, providing proof of listening and opportunities for personal agency.

Stories as decision-making input

“Working with Cortico taught us that anecdotes and stories have information in them that is community input. It’s real and it’s valid.”

Jacquelyn Boggess, Chairperson, Madison, WI Police and Fire Commission

Making sense of the moment

“Cortico has supported us in making sense of the moment that we’re in, by offering … the ability to listen efficiently and economically, in a way that’s connected people across Arkansas.”

Sara Bishop, Founder, Reimagine Arkansas

Informing strategic direction

“Through Cortico, we’re able to efficiently and powerfully invite our community of youth around the world to inform our strategic direction. Cortico enables us to analyze and amplify youth voices and opinions from around the world in a way that traditional survey instruments and focus groups cannot do.”

Asheesh Advani, CEO, Junior Achievement Worldwide
Absorbing community input

“As we engage the community and ask for feedback, the Cortico has been a powerful tool to absorb and understand what residents across Cambridge are looking for in the next City Manager.”

Sumbul Siddiqui, Mayor, City of Cambridge, MA

Building trust in communities

“Cortico’s platform made it possible for us to address fundamental challenges in public engagement: building trust in marginalized communities to bring in their voices.”

Ceasar McDowell, MIT Professor of the Practice, Project Lead, RealTalk for Change Boston

Illuminating data on lived experiences

“The information that we collected with Cortico’s platform is so rich. It helps us illuminate data points in a different way, communicating through people’s stories and experiences.”

Alia Stevenson, Chief Programs Officer, Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness

Student empowerment

“As we work to strengthen student voice in RSU 5, Cortico’s partnership has allowed our students to be empowered in leading positive change in their school culture in a way that is meaningful, collaborative and has led to increased student engagement.”

Dr. Becky J. Foley, Superintendent of Schools, RSU5 in Maine

Interpreting rich narratives

“Cortico tooling provides an engaging and intuitive mechanism for organizing, structuring, and interpreting rich narratives with efficiency … bolstering our capacity to identify shared goals and meaningful insights.”

Rachel Tache, Qualitative Researcher at Child Poverty Action Lab

Countering barriers to participation

“How may we redeem the elusive promise of self-government — amid digitally-amplified divisions and persistent barriers for so many to genuine participation? How encouraging to see Cortico’s unique integration of thoughtful convening, human listening, and technological tools to elicit and foreground the hopes and concerns of people who otherwise would not be heard.”

Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor, Harvard University

Community engagement in reporting

“Our journalists learning that facilitation skill was huge for us because it helped put community engagement in practice and supported a shift from traditional reporting towards really connecting with communities.”

Jennifer Tufts, Project Manager, America Amplified

Connecting with new audiences

“Having the ability to use this incredible technology is such a boost for us to think about new ways to report, to identify innovative ways to reach people and connect with new audiences.”

Katie Dean, Executive Editor, Cap Times

Connecting people to power

“5 years ago, I would’ve said that, in my career, I want people in power to listen to people, and I realized that that’s what I’m doing right now.” 

Amber Wells, Community Engagement Analyst, City of Durham

 

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Cortico is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization led by a multidisciplinary team of experts in community engagement, technology and non-profit management. We strive to meld two elements not typically found in one space: technological innovation and community-centered advocacy. We’d love to keep you up to date on what we’re doing!
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