OROpen Referral
Global movement
Open data standards (HSDS) and tools that connect people to health and human services.
Building since 2010
Open Source Good
Sarapis advances the movement for open source abundance by building practical solutions for people doing good in New York City and beyond.
Active projects
ORCTCivic Tech Field Guide
Global movement
A community-maintained catalog of civic technology projects from around the world, curated by and for the people building them.
SSSahana Software Foundation Support
Global movement
Sarapis supports the Sahana Software Foundation — including the rebuild of sahanafoundation.org as a fast, open, Git-based site with a Keystatic CMS.
In the open
Activity
Oct 12Updates to contract and solicitation tools now display end dates for completed terms, highlight upcoming awards, and note when a solicitation yielded no contract. The platform also refined evaluation grading display per chat scope and updated alert styling for clearer visual notifications.databook-private ↗Oct 12Improved accuracy of chat responses by ensuring dates in different formats and required fiscal-year definitions are recognized correctly during answer verification. Additionally, reference lookups now better support multi-step tool queries to improve overall answer quality.databook-private ↗Oct 12Evaluation of open-source software alternatives has moved into a workspace task for logged-in users under Digital Services. Public product pages now display clear "Reviewed" trust marks for verified alternatives, and AI chat assistants have been updated to only recommend options that have been officially reviewed by the team.databook-private ↗Oct 12Improved procurement search and intelligence tools to explicitly identify when contract terms have ended versus actively running. Clarified guidance around contract stage statuses to help models accurately identify upcoming awards in Public Comment notices and distinguish active hires from historical contracts.databook-private ↗Oct 12A new Workspace button is now visible in the header for all visitors, including signed-out users. Clicking the button directs signed-out users to the public Workspace page, while signed-in users continue to be directed to their personal workspace.databook-private ↗All 1036 events →Recent posts
Filter by topic
Services
All services →01Solution DeliveryWe build and deploy open solutions end-to-end — the open source way.
02Project FacilitationWe help coalitions of nonprofits, agencies, and communities ship together.
03Open Source Software DevelopmentWe steward and extend the FLOSS platforms the public sector depends on.
About
Full story & board →Since 2010, Sarapis has helped nonprofits, community groups, and public agencies build technology they can actually own — free to run, study, share, and improve.
We're a New York-incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We believe the technology public-interest work depends on shouldn't be rented from vendors or locked inside someone else's cloud — it should belong to the people and organizations it serves. So we work in the open with free/libre/open-source tools, and everything we make goes back to the commons.
In practice that's three kinds of work: delivering complete open-source solutions, facilitating the coalitions civic technology takes to build, and stewarding the open-source platforms the public sector relies on. Our projects span open government, human services, emergency management, and the collaborative economy — in New York City and across the global open-source movement.
Built with
FACHC
Mutual Aid NYC
BetaNYC
Founded2010 · New York City
Structure501(c)(3) nonprofit
PracticeFree, libre & open source
Focus areasOpen Gov · Human Services · Emergency · Economy
Board of Directors
DBDevin Balkind
Principal
Devin has spent his career applying free/libre/open-source methodologies to civil society's challenges — building software and operational tools for grassroots organizing initiatives, disaster-relief coalitions, nonprofits, and governments. He has presented on disaster response, participatory democracy, and government technology for the American Red Cross, the US Department of Defense, the NYC Mayor's Office, and the United Nations, and his writing on government technology appears in Gotham Gazette.
devinbalkind.com ↗WBWendy Brawer
Wendy is an eco-designer and social sculptor, best known as the founder and director of Green Map System, which has engaged communities in 65 countries in mapping sustainability and social change. Formerly Designer in Residence at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, she works on inclusive knowledge sharing and climate resiliency across New York City.
ecocultural.info ↗NDNicholas J. Davis
Nicholas works at the intersection of energy, cleantech, and sustainability, having led the Americas for Agrion, the global business network for energy and sustainability professionals. He began his career at Pacific Gas & Electric and holds a Master's in Resource Economics & Environmental Management from Duke University.
JGJohn Godfrey
John is a corporate attorney whose work has centered on intellectual-property matters at media companies, including research on the open-source IP questions facing content-creating businesses. His pro bono practice has included representing clients in the arts.
EOErik Osmond
Erik is a software developer who worked full-time at Sarapis through its formative months in 2010 — managing interns, developing projects, and building the organization's financial and regulatory foundations. He is an active contributor to open-source communities.
KNKate Nicholson
Kate is a civic-technology organizer with deep roots in New York's civic tech and social-innovation scenes, formerly Director of Partnerships and Events at BetaNYC. She holds an MFA in Design for Social Innovation from the School of Visual Arts.