I would receive a number of emails with questions like the one to the left since moving back to the Bay Area back in 2011. I first replied to every single email, but after a while I realized this was becoming a bit of a chore. I decided to create a public Google spreadsheet with a few categories and links to send people interested in learning more about what SF and the Bay Area had to offer. The spreadsheet grew with content as I opened it up to some friends in SF to contribute links.

Continuing to receive these types of emails, I realized I needed to create something more sustainable. Hey, What good in ___? was born. HWGI? was my attempt to design a better alternative to an ugly Google spreadsheet. I wanted to also open this up to other cities around the country. People want to know what good is going on in their city and contribute when and how they can. 

HWGI? is a resource guide for those in the creative industry who are interested in knowing what good is happening in their city. We hope people will research and learn ways to contribute back to their city by working with the various organizations and events listed.

The thing that makes HWGI? unique is that there are real people (people doing good) curating their city pages. We want others to know what good is happening in hopes of creating better communities. The team behind HWGI? simply posts links to things like organizations, events, and creative studios that are focused on creating positive change in their cities.

Thanks for taking the time to visit.

– Marc O’Brien, City Ambassador for San Francisco

Hi! I’m Marc. I’m a Design Strategist and Creative Facilitator that focuses on social innovation, human-centered design, and purpose-driven initiatives that create positive change in the world. I work with people that give a damn. I use design and creativity to help organizations big and small make huge, meaningful impact in unexpected ways. Check out my work!

Great question. HWGI? defines “good” as a positive, worthy entity that is adding abundant value back into the world—or in this case, back into a city. We’ve also asked each City Ambassador to answer this question. Below their bio, each CA defines what “good” means to them, and in turn how they determine what goes on their city page.

It’s funny you ask. Head over to the Social Good Guides and read How to find a job in the social impact space to get some great resources and insights. The Social Good Guides are a series of 20 essential small-business guides created to support early stage social entrepreneurs, nonprofit founders and individuals working on social impact projects.

(Full disclosure, I’m the Strategist behind SGG.)

Each city page is managed by a City Ambassador. They determine what links are appropriate for the categories. They also pick the header image and write the city description themselves.

Each City Ambassador is hand picked based on their work, their knowledge of their city, and their commitment in sharing resources and info with others.

This depends on the City Ambassadors. We encourage them to update their city page a few times a month.

We understand that websites expire or URLs change. We’ll do our best in keeping an eye out for “dead links” on a city’s page. If you stumble upon any, please let us know.

After filling out a form to submit a city, we’ll get in touch with you to learn more about what good is happening in your city. If we think you’re a great fit to be your city’s Ambassador, then we’ll create your city page and onboard you appropriately.

Protip: You can open each site in the background by clicking on a link with the Command key [Mac] pressed down. This opens the page in a new tab yet keeps you on the city page. Click a few and then simply browse the websites. Come back to HWGI? and click on a few more ;)

Great idea! We have a growing list of “back burner” ideas that would make the HWGI? site even more robust. What you see now is v1, simply a proof of concept. We have hopes that as we grow HWGI?, will will partner up with an organization that might help us update the site to include more user-focused features. Stay tuned.