We're a Knight Foundation project, initially based in the Cleveland-Akron part of Ohio (the northeast corner, near Lake Erie). The Knight family got its start in Akron, with the Beacon Journal, so they've got longstanding interests in the region. And leaders there were really interested in a project led by the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaboration of a few dozen philanthropic organizations. Among the many projects they had done was a hugely successful government efficiency competition. I won't go into the details, but it engaged about 30,000 people across the region to care about something as wonky and boring as government efficiency, and Knight asked those folks, what else can you do, beyond government efficiency? Short answer, the Civic Commons was born.