59 Projects is a strategic design and civic technology consultancy based in Abiquiú, New Mexico. Founded by Jeremy Zilar, the practice works with local governments, state agencies, and mission-driven organizations at moments of change: when the goal is clear but the path forward is not, when capable teams are not yet coordinating, when good intentions need to become shared action.
The work spans the full arc from discovery to delivery. That means human-centered design and user research, stakeholder mapping, service design and organizational strategy, accessibility, and building lightweight tools and software that make coordination possible and sustainable.
59 Projects does not hand off a report and leave. The measure of success is whether the people in the room can keep moving on their own.
59 Projects also draws on a trusted network of collaborators with deep expertise in research, policy, fundraising, design, and engineering.
Jeremy Zilar has deep experience across government, media, and cultural institutions. He spent ten years at The New York Times, building the infrastructure for how a five-hundred-person newsroom covered breaking news and live events in real time across blogs, web, and mobile.
He then joined 18F, the federal digital services consultancy within the GSA, leading cross-functional research and strategy engagements with federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies. He went on to direct Digital.gov, overseeing the U.S. Web Design System and 22 communities of practice across the federal government.
Recent work includes homelessness coordination for the City of Santa Fe, building systems to coordinate and document war crimes in Ukraine between UK, US, and EU governments, a water data platform for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology, and a full digital redesign for The Brooklyn Rail that tripled readership to three million people a year and won a Webby Award.
He is also the co-founder of Beeb’s, a plastic-free dog treat company he started with his partner Juliette Cezzar. Now in 35 stores nationally, Beeb's is the same practice applied to a different kind of problem: use design to help people make better choices, and leave the world better than you found it.
He also brings an emerging practice in collaborative AI, helping teams build shared habits around how they use AI tools together, openly and transparently, rather than independently and invisibly.