The countdown is on to the Bay Area’s inaugural Civic Tech Challenge and there are countless reasons not to miss out. Here are just five, courtesy of our friend David Moren, executive director of Generation Citizen – Bay Area. Microsoft is proud host this exciting event at our Yammer office in San Francisco (conveniently located near BART). I hope to see you there!
-Thea Nilsson, Civic Engagement Manager
5 REASONS TO ATTEND THE CIVIC TECH CHALLENGE THIS SATURDAY: November 7th from 6pm-9pm at Yammer (1355 Market Street)
1. At a time when everyone seems to be doing a hackathon, this event uniquely pairs technologists with local students from the Generation Citizen (GC) program to build tech tools that can help accelerate students’ action civics projects.
2. Jen Pahlka, founder and Executive Director of Code for America will be the keynote speaker and is sure to inspire (if you don’t believe me, watch her TED talk!).
3. GC is redefining what civics education can look like in our schools through hands-on, goal-oriented, localized actions and is serving over 1,050 students throughout the Bay Area – and 10,000 across the United States – also in Rhode Island, Greater Boston, and New York City.
4. This program is onto something – Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gave the keynote address at GC’s culminating event last spring and GC is now a national finalist for the Renewal Awards by National Journal, which looks to identify the most effective and creative local innovators solving pressing problems.
5. If supporting a program that is helping to revitalize democracy isn’t enough, come to connect with local elected officials, students, community members, noteworthy Panel Judges, employees from a wide range of Bay Area companies, and more – for what is sure to be a great evening!
More details can be found at www.civictechchallenge.org or tickets can be purchased directly here. Special discount for friends of Microsoft – use promo code: CTC_HALF to get 50% off the normal ticket price!
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David Moren
recently joined on as the Bay Area Site Director of Generation Citizen, an organization that is revitalizing democracy by providing middle and high school youth with an action civics education, thereby creating more active, engaged citizens in the community. David comes to this work with over 15 years in a variety of nonprofit, private sector, and leadership positions, and in addition to his work as a volunteer community mediator and proud father of two young boys, was recently selected as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation national fellow.
