The Davenport Institute promotes civic engagement through its work with municipal and regional government organizations, special districts, and nonprofit organizations through four primary roles:

• Training: The Davenport Institute currently offers three seminars to help leaders improve their skills in public engagement: a half-day “101” seminar that provides a solid foundation in best practices in public processes, and how leaders can assess their current efforts and evaluate the level at which to engage their residents; a full-day program that goes deeper into process design and the essentials of meeting facilitation; and a full-day training on what leaders should know about “Gov 2.0.”  All seminars are aimed toward mid- and upper-level department management, city managers, elected officials, civic leaders, and other leaders in local and regional government organizations.
• Consultation: The Davenport Institute staff and advisors provide consulting services on civic engagement processes in California.
• Sponsor: The Davenport Institute devotes a significant portion of its annual budget to grant-making in the state of California. Through its Public Engagement Grant Program, the Institute offers California communities funded consulting up to $25,000 to carry out a legitimate engagement process.
• Promoter/Advocate: The Davenport Institute believes that citizen engagement produces better policy solutions and better citizens. To this end, the leadership of the Davenport Institute promotes the process of citizen engagement through speeches, op-eds, conferences, research partnerships, and other opportunities.