About The Project

The Colorado Citizen Observers Project is a civic-minded community creating a new path for awareness of our local governments, led by the League of Women Voters in support of the Citizen’s Right to Know. We will train people to attend, observe, and record government meetings so we can share original, accurate, non-partisan documentation of the proceedings with the public and news media. The project is being implemented by a coalition of partners led by the League of Women Voters of Larimer County. Our work is funded by the Gates Family Foundation, and supported by the Colorado Media Project, Open Media Foundation, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, the Colorado Press Association, Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation, and Documenters.org. 

This project is an extension of the Observer Corps, a longstanding program of the League of Women Voters. Citizen Observers of Larimer County were developed and managed by professional journalist January Jones with the leadership of LWV volunteers Jane Hamburger and Sonia Koetting. LWV offers deep appreciation to many individuals for their help, including Samantha Driggers, Alfonso Gonzales, Melissa Davis, Jeff Roberts, Max Resnik, Jupe Herrick, and more. The participation of our nonprofit partner groups has been so valuable in establishing this civic project. We look forward to its expansion in Colorado.  

Our goals are to build lasting community partnerships, increase government transparency, and boost civic engagement. We seek to include diverse citizens as we share actionable information for the rural communities and small cities of Larimer County, and eventually, other Colorado communities served by the League of Women Voters.

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