When Jon Zaghloul joined the City of Aurora’s Communications team, he didn’t expect to become an architect of one of the most ambitious digital transformation efforts in local government. He was hired to help tell the city’s story — but soon found himself rewriting it entirely.
In just over a year, Zaghloul helped transform one of Illinois’ largest cities into a model for intuitive, resident‑centered digital government — and earned Granicus’ Changemaker Award in the process.
But what truly sets Zaghloul apart isn’t just the speed or scale of the work. It’s the way he looked at every challenge — outdated tools, limited reach, siloed systems — and saw opportunity. Listening closely to residents, council members, and city staff, Zaghloul led a series of high‑impact projects that turned Aurora’s digital presence into a living, responsive, and deeply human resident experience.
The moment aurora decided to change
The seeds of transformation were planted years earlier under the previous mayor, but progress had stalled. Shortly after Zaghloul arrived, the city finally had alignment, urgency, and a partner in Granicus. He was part of the review committee that ultimately selected Granicus and helped kick off the overhaul. Just 13 months later, Aurora had launched a modern website, a citywide engagement platform, and a completely reinvigorated communications program.
The timeline was almost unheard of. Zaghloul, however, approached it like a personal mission — often migrating pages at night and on weekends, determined not to let the city down.
"It's a heavy lift, but I knew it was going to be a game changer for the community. I was willing to put in the work, knowing that the end result would be significant, and it would really help out our city,” said Zaghloul. “We built such a significant infrastructure in such a small amount of time, and now we have the opportunity to continually refine it, to make it better.”
This is where the story of a Changemaker really begins.
Reimagining representation: “Your Voice” becomes the heart of community dialogue
One of Zaghloul’s earliest insights was simple: People want to be heard, but government doesn’t always make it easy.
In response, he built Your Voice Aurora into a living hub of two‑way communication. The turning point came with the aldermanic project pages — a challenge that had long baffled staff. Residents never knew where to find ward‑specific updates. Aldermen struggled to manage inbox chaos.
Zaghloul decided to fix both problems at once.
He met with all 12 aldermen individually, pitched the idea of a dedicated page for each ward, and earned unanimous support. Then he introduced a “questions widget,” letting residents ask anonymous or named questions directly to their alderman. Aurora set a new standard for alderman engagement — and it worked.
Today, the pages have been visited by more than 7,000 residents and generated a great deal of participation, transforming aldermen from hard‑to‑reach figures into accessible community partners.
The resident experience shifted from “Where do I even start?” to “I know exactly where to go.”
Listening at scale: A city learns what its residents really need
When Aurora elected a new mayor, Zaghloul worked with Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Tony Martinez, to launch a citywide Communications Survey, recognizing an opportunity to reset how the city listens to its residents.
The survey asked residents how they received information and where gaps existed. The response was overwhelming: 710 residents participated, the highest survey turnout in city history.
And they were clear.
Seniors wanted printed newsletters again. Neighborhood conversations were happening on Nextdoor. Residents needed more reliable translation and more proactive communication.
Zaghloul didn’t file the results away — he acted on them. Aurora increased its presence on Nextdoor and reinstated a print newsletter for older adults who relied on it.
The city wasn’t just broadcasting anymore; it was responding.
A new mayor, a new conversation: Turning town halls into action
When Aurora’s 60th mayor hosted a four‑part town hall series, Zaghloul turned it into more than a public meeting — he turned it into a feedback loop.
He created a dedicated project page housing video recordings, FAQs, contact information, feedback tools, and, later, sentiment analysis and heat‑mapped insights collected by IT.
These town halls became more than one-off engagements for residents; they could return to them, share them, and see how their comments shaped real outcomes. It became a model of modern civic transparency.
“It’s been a great hub for our new mayor to really help to communicate his vision, while also soliciting feedback from the community,” said Zaghloul.
Growing the city’s reach from 16,000 emails to over 160,000
One of Zaghloul’s proudest accomplishments came from something deceptively simple: email.
Previously, Aurora’s limit of 16,000 contacts meant the city barely scratched the surface of the communities it served. With Granicus Communications (govDelivery), Zaghloul and his team consolidated lists from every department — Finance, Public Works, Development Services, Events — uncovering tens of thousands of contacts the city didn’t even know it already had.
The transformation was staggering:
- The subscriber base grew 10x to more than 160,000 contacts.
- Aurora launched its first weekly newsletter ever, reaching 70,000–80,000 people with a 40% open rate.
- The city created a dozen segmented newsletters, targeting interests from farmers markets to festival announcements.
For the first time, Aurora could communicate with its city at scale — consistently, clearly, and strategically.
Preparing for a critical count: Making the Census accessible and trustworthy
One of Aurora’s biggest challenges loomed quietly: the belief that the community was undercounted in 2020, a miss that could cost millions in federal funding. With a special census on the horizon, Zaghloul will be using Your Voice Aurora to demystify the process.
This critical information will walk residents through:
- What official census communications look like.
- What census workers can and cannot ask.
- How the updated “new construction” scope affects participation.
- FAQs designed to dispel fear and confusion.
In a political climate where residents are wary of sharing personal information, Zaghloul’s approach emphasizes clarity and trust — the foundation of any successful count.
A culture shift, not just a platform shift
Zaghloul often says the real change in Aurora wasn’t the technology — it was the mindset.
Departments learned to collaborate. Communications became proactive instead of reactive. Residents gained new ways to be heard. And the city, for the first time, had a modern foundation for everything that comes next: better services, better transparency, and better engagement.
It’s fitting that Aurora is now a beta partner for the new Government Experience Agent (GXA) 311 integration — one of the first cities in the country to test a resident‑facing AI tool for service requests. It reflects the same spirit Zaghloul brought to every project: try new things, do them boldly, and build systems that will serve the community for years.
What it takes to be a Changemaker
Zaghloul’s work wasn’t glamorous in the moment — long nights migrating pages, tight timelines, coordination across dozens of stakeholders. But the results are undeniable:
- More than 50 engagement projects.
- More than 117,000 views on Your voice.
- 160,000 email subscribers.
- A revitalized website with high‑90s SEO scores.
- The city’s most successful resident survey ever.
- A streamlined 311 experience that is pioneering new innovations.
"From a government experience perspective, it has just completely changed the way that Aurora can interact with its residents,” said Zaghloul. “With all of these tools at our disposal, we can reach as many people as possible and get people more engaged in the day-to-day process of local government.”
He helped Aurora find its voice — and made sure every resident had a way to use theirs.
This is what a Changemaker looks like: Someone who sees what is, imagines what could be, and works relentlessly until the city becomes a better version of itself.
