Luke Fretwell is an entrepreneur, writer and civic hacker.
He founded and runs GovFresh. It’s a media and innovation lab. It focuses on design, technology and democracy.
He co-founded ProudCity. ProudCity helps U.S. cities and counties build better digital services. Each year, Government Technology names ProudCity to its GovTech 100 list. This list ranks top government technology companies.
Luke has helped several early-stage government tech firms grow. At FedScoop and StateScoop, he built editorial and digital operations. At NuCivic, he led product marketing. NuCivic was an open data firm. It was acquired in 2014.
He was a product designer for California’s Alpha team. Alpha was a state project to redesign CA.gov. He also worked with the state on Code California. It helps state workers learn about open source software and culture.
He founded Agile Government Leadership. It was a community project. It promoted open and agile methods for better government digital services. AGL is now Technologists for the Public Good.
Luke worked as a technology journalist. He has written for TechCrunch, Government Technology, FCW, FedScoop and StateScoop. Other outlets, including The Washington Post, have cited his work.
At heart, he’s a civic hacker. He’s built several open source, community projects. One is ScanGov, a government digital service monitor. Another is Proudly Serving, a local government digital services handbook. He also built GovPress, a government WordPress theme, and CityCamp, a global civic tech unconference.
Beyond civic tech, Luke led the rebrand and product design for Inspire.com. He also worked as a designer, marketer and product manager for Technical Communities. He managed writing and press work for the American Society of Association Executives.
He has also volunteered. He mentored youth with Fairfax County, Virginia’s Befriend-A-Child program. He hosted a Bosnian refugee family with the International Rescue Committee. He supported hospice care with Pathways Home Health and Hospice.
Luke graduated from George Mason University. He earned two degrees. One was in government and politics. One was in international studies. He was editor-in-chief of the GMU newspaper, The Broadside. He led the staff to win the university’s first national Associated Collegiate Press honor.