RFI – Youth Connector Web Application to Connect Youth with City and Community Programs

Project Description:

The City of Seattle operates or invests in over 150 programs for youth, totaling over $206 million in annual investment across 15 City departments. Programs provide youth with opportunities for connection through arts, recreation, mentorship, paid internships, as well as access to safe spaces, discounts and benefits. Despite the City’s investment, many programs go underutilized and youth continue to experience high levels of anxiety and disconnectedness. It is estimated that only 40% of programs are highly utilized, highlighting a gap between what youth need, what the City offers, and what youth can actually find.

During a 2025 research sprint, the City’s Innovation and Performance Team engaged with over 400 Seattle youth to better understand how the City could improve access to these supports. Learnings from the research sprint included:

• Most teens learn about programs through school or parents, leaving out youth who are not in school or lack a trusted adult to guide them.
• Searching online is frustrating and time-consuming, making it difficult to know what opportunities exist or which ones are relevant.
• Youth get information from YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, while government outreach still relies heavily on Facebook, a platform teens rarely use.

The Innovation and Performance Team took the recommendations developed during the research sprint, as well as from a youth-led hack-a-thon to shape the idea of a “Youth Connector”. Using a co-design process, the City developed a prototype of a web application that meets the specific needs of youth.

The City is now looking to learn more about the tools and vendors who could bring the prototype to life. The City is committed to continuing to incorporate feedback from youth throughout the design and development of the final product.

The City is using this RFI process to better understand the current landscape of vendor capabilities, technologies, and industry trends in efforts to produce a tool that improves youth engagement with City programs. There are underlying challenges and opportunities we seek to address in a future technology project, including:

• Remaining true to the youth co-designed prototype while working within the constraints of the government technology landscape.
• Addressing the issue of program information maintained in disparate websites within Seattle.gov and by community partners on external websites.
• Addressing the issue of program data inconsistently documented across programs.
• Addressing the issue of program information not captured in a webpage but rather communicated via print material, social media post, or word of mouth.
• Future desire to include programs outside of the City of Seattle as youth qualify for programs offered by other governments or community organizations.
• Opportunities to drive engagement using social media marketing.

The information gathered through this RFI will aid our strategic planning efforts and help ensure we remain informed about opportunities and developments in the technology space that could shape a future technology project.