The Open Planning Project

TOPP (short for The Open Planning Project) is a social enterprise working on projects that catalyze social change. We look for opportunities where a strategic, discrete investment can act as a lever to transform a larger system.

We develop open source software, media products, and other projects that help people to come together to solve big problems.

In New York, for example, we helped change the city's approach to transportation planning. We did this by bringing together community stakeholders in the New York City Streets Renaissance, and by developing political mobilizers like Streetfilms.org and Streetsblog.org. This work brought average people into the planning process like never before, and it succeeded in re-orienting city planning toward walkable, bikeable streets.

Yes, we are a 501(c)3 private foundation. Donations to TOPP are tax-deductible.

TOPP's operations are funded through a mix of philanthropic support and fee-for-service activities. Our goal is to be completely self-sustaining in the long term.

The majority of our funding comes through the generous support of our founder, Mark Gorton. We have also received important philanthropic support from: Transportation For America, the Wallace Global Fund, the Surdna Foundation, and a private donor.

We seek to be self-sustaining in the long-term, through a mix of open source software development and other products and services. We have expertise in a number of areas, and if you have an idea for a mission-aligned project, we would love to talk with you.

Our main office is in TriBeCa, in New York City, but our staff is spread out over five states and five countries.

Open source software is software that is free to use, share and modify. Learn more…