Start with geography
Location connects the records, relationships, and operations that shape a neighborhood.
ABOUT GINKGO
Better places begin with better information.
The people who care for our neighborhoods shouldn't have to piece together their work across spreadsheets, disconnected maps, and software that was never designed for places.
We built Ginkgo to change that.
WHY WE EXIST
The best places run on strong community participation.
A downtown is made up of people, properties, businesses, public spaces, and relationships. Each changes over time. Yet the organizations responsible for supporting these places are often left managing fragmented information in systems that don't understand geography.
Ginkgo brings that information together in a shared, map-based workspace. It helps place managers see what's happening, coordinate their teams, work with stakeholders, and communicate their impact.
We believe local knowledge is one of a community's most valuable assets. It deserves tools that make it useful, connected, and actionable.
OUR APPROACH
Designed around places. Built around people.
Make knowledge usable
Bring field observations, local data, and stakeholder relationships into everyday workflows.
Grow with the mission
Give small teams a practical place to start and larger organizations a foundation that scales.
FOUNDER STORY
From urban design to everyday urban management.
Ginkgo was founded by Star Childs, who trained in landscape architecture at Cornell and environmental management at Yale, and spent years working on how neighborhoods actually function.
The question that led to Ginkgo wasn't how to store information. It was why the people with the best understanding of a place had the worst tools for acting on it.
That became Ginkgo: a geo-CRM built for the practical realities of place management and local economic development. The goal hasn't changed — give the people doing this work clearer information, better tools, and more time out on the street.
Star Childs — Founder, Ginkgo
WHO WE SERVE
Built for the people behind thriving places.
Downtown& BIDs
Coordinate outreach, field operations, business support, and local reporting.
Cities & economic development
Understand local conditions and connect data to action.
Service providers & partners
Deliver visible results across programs and customer organizations.
WHAT'S NEXT
More connected knowledge. More capable communities.
We're building toward a future where place-based data is easier to maintain, enrich, share, and act on, so more organizations can make informed decisions about the places they care for.
Get to know Ginkgo