How 10 strangers came together to build a tool for grassroots activism in a weekend

Since Trump was elected two weeks ago, I’ve struggled with how to get involved and make a difference. It seems like there are so many needs, so many places to donate, so many people trying to organize, that it’s difficult to know where to start.

I came across this series of tweets:

And helpful tweets like this, screenshots of text with directions about how to speak out:

With all of that in mind, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for someone to find and contact their Congressional representative at their district office. Essentially to call Congress with a tap.

That’s why we created Call To Action.

It started with a tweet Friday morning:

Replies and offers to help — from people of many different backgrounds and disciplines — started pouring in. And even though sites for finding your Congressional reps exist, they’re pretty terrible:

(gross)

After a pretty crappy week, Jon Favreau, from the podcast Keepin’ It 1600, asked if anyone had good news. I shared that I was about to start working on a small app. I didn’t realize how big of a need this was until he retweeted me. And again, my replies exploded with people who wanted to get involved.

Within a few hours of my original tweet, I had more interest than I knew what to do with. I’ve been building apps and websites for five years but I needed a team to complete this quickly.

We assembled 10 people from across the country — different genders, races, backgrounds, and orientations — all coming together over a weekend to build Call To Action.

Call To Action is the fastest and easiest way to contact your Congressional reps. You can use it on your Android or iPhone right now:

1. Go to Call To Action and use your current location or enter your address.
2. See who your Congressional representative is.
3. Call them with one tap. (We have a helpful script that you can use and information about what you can expect when you call.)

Here are some things that you can call Congress about right now:

• Opposing Presidential Cabinet nominees
• Various policy positions
• Issues you feel are important to you and your community

If we can assemble and build this in a weekend, you can spend a minute on the phone with your Congressional rep, having your voice be heard.

It’s time to get serious and stay focused. We hope Call To Action will help.

Call To Action was created and built by @zackshapiro, @jeremyhfisher, @mitulp91, @webdevdani, @jhsilverman, @sleepingplanes, @lachlanjc, @buckwilson, @simkhosla, and @bengold.

Special thanks also to @kevintwohy and @mrcohen33 for their help this weekend as well.

Questions? Reach out at http://twitter.com/usecalltoaction