PitchFest ‘25

What is the Pilot Pitchfest?

An event on May 22nd, in which staff from New York City government agencies are invited to give low-stakes, two-minute pitches on projects for which they are seeking external collaborators. During and after the event, we will work to “match” agencies with academic researchers and skilled volunteers—and we have funding available to support high-impact projects.

Agencies presenting include...and more to come!

  • Department of City Planning

  • New York City Housing Authority

  • Housing Preservation and Development

  • Office of Management and Budget

  • Department of Environmental Protection

  • Metropolitan Transportation Authority

  • New York City Parks

Sounds great. How can I sign up?

RSVPs for the Pitchfest are open on Eventbrite—and you should sign up fast, as last year, we sold out! The event is free to attend and open to New York City agency staff, New York area academic researchers, and New York area skilled volunteers.

If you are agency staff and you would like to pitch a project, you must submit a slide with your project idea by May 9th (11:59PM ET) via email to brandon@pilotpitchfest.org, following the attached template. You will receive confirmation that your slide was accepted by May 16th. Then, on the 22nd, you have to show up to pitch. It is okay if your project is just in the idea phase—this is a bottom-up process, and the point is to encourage people to share in a low-risk environment. Pitching does not obligate you to follow-through on the project, and we welcome more than one pitch per agency. 

If you are an academic researcher or skilled volunteer interested in working with an agency, you should sign up to attend the Pitchfest on May 22nd. At the event, you will meet agency staff, who will provide an overview of projects. After the event, you will be asked to submit an interest form to indicate the agency projects with which you are interested in being matched.

What types of projects are in-scope for the Pitchfest?

There are two different project “tracks”—the research track, and the technical assistance track. It is okay if you do not know which track you fit. Note, neither track is intended for procurement of commercial solutions.

Research Track

The research track is intended to provide up to $80k in funding for six-month research projects between agencies and academic researchers. This track is for agency staff who have, or would like to run, an experiment, randomized controlled trial, or program or policy evaluation that would benefit from collaboration with or assessment by academic researchers. Researchers may come from any discipline, ranging from psychology, to economics, to computer science. Projects are intended to produce evidence to aid agency decision-making—and also potentially yield results that may be worthy of publishing in an academic journal. This is not a planning grant. Projects should be able to demonstrate meaningful progress within six months of the grant date. Researchers will retain the rights to publish the results of their analysis. Ultimately, we are looking for projects that:

  • Address a research need for a New York City government agency, with clearly defined outcomes

  • Are likely to influence a specific agency's policies, procedures, or operations in the near term

  • Include a sound research methodology that is likely to lead to credible research findings

  • Are likely to produce novel findings of interest to cities and researchers beyond New York

Grant decisions will be made by a judging pool composed of agency partners, the Social Science Research Council, and representatives from philanthropies including the Sloan Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Open Philanthropy, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Technical Assistance Track

The technical assistance track is intended to create pairings between agencies and skilled volunteers with a broad range of technical and business expertise. This track is for staff who could use technical assistance from between 1-4 volunteers dedicated at up to 20% capacity, on a tactical project of no more than three months. Projects that might be a fit could include user research studies, basic tech prototypes, analysis of open data sets, or business planning exercises. Projects could include:

  • UX feedback on a new city website  

  • Business planning for a new city service

  • Basic prototype of a new budgeting tool 

All skilled volunteers interested in working with city agencies will apply to and be vetted by the Pilot Pitchfest team. Skilled volunteers are not permitted to interface with confidential City or resident data, including information where the unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction would cause risk to the City or Agency. Those who are successfully matched with an agency will be asked to sign an NDA.

What happens after the Pitchfest event? 

After the Pitchfest, researchers and skilled volunteers will be asked to submit an interest form by May 31st, indicating their desire to be “matched” with a specific agency or project. Agencies will review submissions, and we will facilitate introductions in cases of mutual interest.

Then, projects split based on tracks:

Research Track: Principal investigators of research track projects will be asked to submit a short funding application for no more than $80k to the Pitchfest team by July 31st. Finalists will be invited to interview in early September.

Technical Assistance Track: Throughout the summer, the Pilot Pitchfest team will work with agencies to refine technical assistance projects, culminating in an MOU defining the project scope. All skilled volunteers will be asked to sign an NDA before starting work.

We expect both research and technical assistance track projects to launch in September.  

Still have questions? Check out our FAQs and/or email brandon@pilotpitchfest.org.