Built for the realities of public service.
Govera helps public agencies reduce administrative burden, improve coordination, preserve institutional knowledge, track commitments, monitor contracts, and prepare for public meetings more efficiently.
Developed by public sector professionals and enterprise technology leaders, Govera brings governance expertise and modern software together in one platform. Any state. Any county or parish. Any city.
- Years of public sector leadership
- 0+
- Years of enterprise software leadership
- 0+
- Public sector roles shaped the product
- 0
- Purpose built for public agencies
- 0%
Why Govera exists
Public agencies face increasing demands. On any given week, staff are expected to do all of this at once:
- 01Coordinate across departments
- 02Prepare meeting materials
- 03Maintain compliance
- 04Respond to elected officials
- 05Manage growing volumes of documentation
- 06Track commitments
- 07Oversee contracts
- 08Preserve institutional knowledge
Traditional tools were not designed for this reality.
Govera was built specifically to help public agencies work smarter, reduce risk, and spend more time serving their communities.
Mike Mashburn, Founder and CEO
Mike Mashburn is the Founder and CEO of Govera. A former city manager with a Master of Public Administration and more than 18 years of municipal experience across five organizations, he has led communities from high growth to heavy commercial activity, and has stepped into organizations facing turnover and lost institutional knowledge. He founded Govera to give public agencies the memory, safeguards, and follow-through he wished he had in the city manager's chair.
Govera was not designed in a conference room. It was built by a public servant who sat in the city manager's chair. Anyone who has stepped into an organization after key people have moved on knows the challenge of finding the reasons behind past decisions. Anyone who has answered a council question knows how many hours it can take to trace the history. Everything in Govera comes from those experiences, and it was refined with input from dozens of public sector leaders.
Background
- 01More than 18 years in municipal government across five organizations, including service as a city manager, and a Master of Public Administration
- 02Led communities ranging from high-growth cities to heavily commercial ones, each with different needs
- 03Stepped into organizations with high staff turnover and limited institutional knowledge
- 04Managed governance, compliance, budgeting, and public meeting processes
- 05Worked directly with elected officials, department directors, clerks, and attorneys
- 06Directs Govera's product so it matches how local government actually works
Purpose built expertise
Founded by Mike Mashburn, a former city manager and Govera's CEO, Govera pairs more than 18 years of public sector leadership with an experienced enterprise engineering team.
Public sector
- Led public agencies through periods of rapid growth and organizational change.
- Managed complex governance, compliance, budgeting, and public meeting processes.
Enterprise software
- Built and scaled enterprise SaaS platforms serving millions of users.
- Led global engineering organizations across multiple industries.
- Designed cloud native software products used around the world.
- Implemented AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise data platforms at scale.
This combination allows Govera to solve real world public sector challenges using technology that is secure, scalable, and practical.
Catch conflicts before they reach the dais.
What each item is reviewed against
- 01Adopted policies
- 02Local ordinances
- 03State law
- 04Previous approvals
For example, Govera may flag
- 01An item that exceeds a spending limit in adopted policy
- 02An ordinance change that contradicts an earlier council action
- 03A contract renewal that conflicts with a procurement rule
Conflict detection supports staff and attorney review. It is not legal advice and does not replace counsel. Results depend on which policies and laws are loaded and kept current.
Each challenge has a capability
01Challenge: Agenda items may collide with policy, law, or earlier approvals
Govera capability: Conflict detection
Who benefits most: Managers, clerks, attorneys, elected officials
02Challenge: Meeting packets built by hand under deadline
Govera capability: Meeting preparation
Who benefits most: Clerks, secretaries, department directors
03Challenge: Decisions and promises made in meetings get lost
Govera capability: Commitment tracking with owners and due dates
Who benefits most: Managers, administrators, elected officials
04Challenge: Contract dates and obligations slip by
Govera capability: Contract monitoring
Who benefits most: Finance staff, department directors, attorneys
05Challenge: Knowledge leaves when staff leave
Govera capability: Institutional knowledge that can be searched
Who benefits most: New hires, new managers, new elected officials
06Challenge: Leaders need context before they vote
Govera capability: Decision support
Who benefits most: Elected officials, managers
What this means for your team
- Less time spent assembling documents and more time serving the community
- Continuity when staff, managers, or elected officials change
- A clearer trail of who committed to what, and when
- Fewer surprises at the council or board table
Built for local government
- 19,489
Municipal governments
Cities, towns, and villages with a council or board, a manager or clerk, and regular public meetings
Explore - 16,184
Township governments
Common in the Northeast and Midwest
- 3,031
County governments
Commissions, courts, or boards with administrators
Explore - 12,535
Independent school districts
Boards of education and superintendents
Explore - 40,199
Special districts
Water, fire, library, hospital, transit, utility, and similar
Explore - 91,438
Total local governments
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Government Organization 2022 and 2025. Census counts cover the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Available across the United States
Govera is available to local governments in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
We load your own ordinances, policies, and records, so every draft follows the rules of your jurisdiction, not a generic template.
- Northeast
- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
- Midwest
- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
- South
- Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
- West
- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
- Territories
- Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands
Region groupings follow the Bureau of Labor Statistics definitions.
Why continuity matters
- About 20.6 million
State and local government employees
649,000 above the February 2020 peak, and about 13% of the U.S. workforce
Source: NASRA, using BLS data
As of: Aug 2026 - 1.4% per month
Separations in state and local government
Quits, retirements, and layoffs in 2025, or about 1 in 6 jobs per year (our arithmetic, monthly rate times 12)
Source: BLS JOLTS, Table 20
As of: 2025 - 618,000
Open positions in state and local government
Preliminary figure
Source: BLS JOLTS, Table 1
As of: Aug 2026
Our Mission
Less time assembling documents. More time serving communities.
- 01Simplify meeting preparation
- 02Strengthen organizational continuity
- 03Improve accountability
- 04Preserve institutional knowledge
- 05Inform the people who decide
Our values
Continuity over convenience
The record should outlast any one employee.
Practical over flashy
Tools should fit how agencies already work.
Accountability
Commitments are visible, owned, and dated.
Respect for public service
We build for the people doing the work.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about who we are, who Govera is for, and how it works.
- Govera is a governance platform for local public agencies. We help staff prepare for public meetings, flag agenda items that conflict with policy, law, or prior approvals, track commitments, monitor contracts, and preserve institutional knowledge in one place.
- Govera is for cities, counties, school districts, and special districts. Our users include city managers, county administrators, school administrators, clerks and secretaries, department directors, attorneys, and elected officials.
- Govera was founded by a former city manager and built with enterprise software leaders. Founder and CEO Mike Mashburn brings more than 18 years of municipal experience, and our engineering team brings deep enterprise software experience.
- Govera reduces the administrative burden of running a public agency. It gathers meeting materials, records commitments made in meetings, tracks contracts, and keeps a searchable memory of past decisions, so knowledge stays with the agency when staff or leaders change.
- Govera helps staff assemble the information behind each agenda item faster. Instead of searching old minutes, emails, and files, staff and reviewers can find prior decisions and related commitments in one place before the meeting.
- Govera reviews each agenda item against your adopted policies, local ordinances, state law, and previous approvals, and flags potential conflicts before the item is voted on. Staff can resolve issues while there is still time. Conflict detection supports staff and attorney review and does not replace legal counsel.
- Commitment tracking records what the governing body or staff promised, who owns it, and when it is due. Govera captures those items from meetings so follow-through does not depend on anyone's memory.
- Govera keeps decisions, context, and commitments in a searchable record that belongs to the agency. When a manager, clerk, or department head leaves, the next person can see what was decided and why.
- Yes. Govera is designed for any public body that meets regularly, makes decisions in public, and must keep a reliable record. That includes school boards and special districts such as water, fire, library, and utility districts.
- Govera's website is available in English and Spanish, and we support Spanish speaking agencies.
- Govera is available to local governments in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. We are working with pilot partners now.
- Schedule a 30 minute conversation and we will show Govera working with your agency's real workflows. Use the Schedule a Demo button on govera.co.
Built with public sector input
We sat down with public sector leaders and asked what slows them down. City managers, county administrators, clerks and secretaries, department directors, attorneys, elected officials, and special district leaders shaped what we built. Govera is led by a former city manager, so our roadmap starts with the problems agencies actually have.
- City Managers
- County Administrators
- Clerks and Secretaries
- Department Directors
- Attorneys
- Elected Officials
- Special District Leaders
Ready to see Govera in action?
Schedule a 30 minute conversation to see Govera working with your agency's real workflows.
Last updated: September 29, 2026