On a mission to power the communities of the future.

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Imagine a community where every member had simple, efficient access to the assistance they needed at their fingertips, whether through a community organization, government, or neighbor.

That's Reciprocity.

At ReciproCity, we believe that much of what a community member needs is already within reach. We believe that communities have already gone to great lengths to make sure they have programs, volunteers, and infrastructure to make sure everyone’s needs are met. We believe that the main reason community members do not have what they need is a matter of connecting with existing and willing programs, volunteers, and neighbors. We believe that technology has the ability to facilitate those connections quickly, efficiently, and even delightfully, all while being able to scale to meet demand. Finally, we believe that when a community member has their need met by someone else, they inevitably will want to meet the need of someone else. 

We believe that the communities of the future will run on ReciproCity.

ReciproCity, defined.

ReciproCity is a software development and consulting collective headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan that exists to help better connect communities. At our core, we believe that the human service sector, while vital to society as a whole, generally lacks access to the technology solutions so community members in need of aid can connect with individuals, community organizations, and resources that are available in an efficient and effective manner. ReciproCity exists to provide access to technological expertise, resources, and development to human service in order to build communities that are better connected, for the good of us all.

Developing applications that power community connection.

Building public goods.
  1. Service obsessed: We are in this for those we serve. If a client, partner, stakeholder, or fellow worker has an urgent issue, we will not rest until we have served them.
  2. Shared interest over self interest: We do what’s best for the community we serve based on collaborative prioritization, instead of what’s best for us as individuals. We’re serious about doing the work that will accomplish our shared vision and we don’t care about who gets the credit.
  3. Startup spirit: No matter how much we grow, we want to embody the spirit of a startup with boundless energy, intimate friendships, and disruption of the status quo.
  4. Smart people welcome: Genius level talent is hard to come by and should be treasured, respected and rewarded. We commit to welcoming the new ideas smart people devise, even when they challenge us all in uncomfortable ways.
  5. Socially innovative: We want to see and solve social problems before they become a problem for others. We are not merely socially responsible; we are helping set the course for others to follow in social innovation and interaction.

We employ a small team of proven consultants to act as project managers for the communities and organizations we serve, while welcoming the goodwill volunteer efforts of local development professionals to build the technology the community desperately needs. By leveraging our passion for the public sector and our connections in the private sector, we build mutually beneficial relationships that help us a better society, connecting one community at a time. 

We ask everyone who joins in our efforts, whether as a employee, volunteer, client, or community member, to do the same thing: give what it is that you have received, and give it in a way that maximizes its value. At our core, we desire to give from all that we have received, believing that if we lead in this way, others will do the same, and a better connected community will result.
OUR STORY

The roots of ReciproCity date back to 2007, when co-founders Chris Powers and Cam Underdown met at Oakland University. Both entrepreneurial in spirit and conscious of deficiencies in student engagement, they pioneered efforts to bring people together using creative methods that challenged the ineffective status quo. After trying a variety of efforts independently, they eventually teamed up with several others to launch a wildly successful weekly open mic called Word of Mouth on campus that lasted well beyond their respective graduations. 

After college, Chris and Cam continued their entrepreneurial efforts in different sectors. Chris focused his efforts on corporate entrepreneurship around the country, particularly in the climate change industry, while Cam helped engineer new startups in the nonprofit and faith communities locally in southeast Michigan. They continued their friendship and through regular communication continued to inspire one another to leverage their talents for the greater good of humanity. 

The coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 provided an interruption to Chris and Cam’s regular efforts while bringing them both into the same geography for the first time in many years. Together, they designed and launched a mutual aid site designed to help people meet each other’s needs in the local community in the face of the pandemic challenges. Thanks to the data science and development genius of fellow OU alumnus Joshua Linneburg, added to the team a few days after launch, the site quickly became ready to serve the needs of thousands of Oakland County residents, including powering emergency food delivery to over 700 households every week since April 1. 

As they served the needs of the community they called home, this team of three quickly saw the dire need in the human sector for their talents and the gifts of many others they knew. They realized there was not only an opportunity, but a responsibility to help develop the kind of the kind of technology that would help better connect their community and any other community who was seeking the same goal. 

ReciproCity was born out of the desire to respond to the needs they saw, and come together around a single purpose: to develop applications that power community connection. Chris, Cam, Josh, and their growing community of volunteer developers and technology professionals are working to do that, and invite you to consider how you can be part of powering the future of human service through building better connected communities. 

ReciproCity is proudly headquartered in Pontiac, MI.