The old saying goes, “In like a lion, out like a lamb” — but we see March as a lion roaring all the way through. Join us for these top events in civic tech this month:
March 2
mHUB Chicago Grand Opening
2:30pm-9:00pm
mHUB 965 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago
Come pay tribute to Chicago’s reigning manufacturing leaders and the visionaries, innovators, and entrepreneurs who will carry that legacy as a beacon for our city well into the future.
March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Chicago Women Developers Hack Night
6:00pm
1871 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 12th Floor Chicago
This weekly event gives ladies a space to code together. Whether you’re just getting started, or are a veteran in the tech world, there’s a seat for you at the table. BYOL: Bring your own laptop!
You don’t have to be working on any project or learning anything new to come to Hack Night, it’s a great space to just hang out with other women who code.
March 4
Cook County Young Adult Civic Engagement Summit – Disrupters Conference
8:30am-4:00pm
Rainbow Push Coalition National Headquarters 930 East 50th Street, Chicago
In order to bring forth social impact development, the Commission will be hosting a Summit for Cook County young adults to engage in civic action. This summit is being organized by the Commission’s Social Innovation Human Capital Sub Committee on Young Adult Civic Engagement. The Human Capital Sub Committee are assembling young adults between the ages of 17-26 for the purpose of meeting to network and engage with other civic-minded individuals. The Human Capital Sub Committee will also use this forum to address major concerns of young adults such as; standards of public safety, social impact careers, meaningful workforce development, and educational experiences.
Open Data Day – DeKalb 2017
10:00am-3:00pm
Campus Life Building | Northern Illinois University 545 Lucinda Ave. (Normal Rd.), DeKalb
Join community members, students, local leaders, and avid technologists as they come together to innovate and code during Open Data Day – DeKalb 2017. Northern Illinois University STEAM Works is proud to host its second Open Data Day in DeKalb.
Open Data Day – DeKalb 2017 will take place March 4th at NIU and coincides with International Open Data Day. The goal of Open Data Day is to inspire residents everywhere to get actively involved in their community.
Who should get involved? Anyone with a passion for social justice and desire to utilize open data and technology to solve wicked issues.
March 7, 14, 21, 28
Chi Hack Night
6:00pm-10:00pm
Braintree office 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 8th Floor, Chicago
The Chi Hack Night is a free, weekly event in Chicago to build, share and learn about civic tech and tools to create, support, or serve public good.
Join us every Tuesday from 6-10pm on the 8th floor of the Merchandise Mart to hear from interesting speakers, learn from each other and work on civic projects. Non-techies are very welcome!
March 8
Small Business Advisory Council Venture Pitch Session
6:00pm-9:00pm
mHUB Event Space 965 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago
Join us for an SBAC Venture Pitch Session, hosted by mHUB, where aspiring entrepreneurs and mid-sized businesses in growth mode will showcase their businesses. Three businesses will be selected to pitch in front of a prestigious panel of judges and receive feedback. This event includes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, appetizers and networking followed by three pitches from startup companies out of the Chicagoland area.
Illinois Innovation Index: Press Event
1pm
University of Chicago Polsky Exchange North, 1452 E. 53rd St, 2nd floor, Chicago
The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) and our university partners cordially invite you to a press event on Wednesday, March 8th at 1PM, celebrating the release of our annual Illinois Innovation Index report, detailing the record growth of university startup creation, technology transfer and funding trends.
Tech Madness Bracket Reveal (ChicagoInno)
6:00pm-9:00pm
Chicago Sports Museum 835 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
This March, Chicago Inno is bringing the tech community together for some healthy competition… bracket-style. The goal of Tech Madness is to generate awareness and excitement for the city’s top tech players, from the “favorites” (late-stage tech pillars) to the “diaper dandies” (seed round startups).
March 9
ITA Women in Tech Leadership Exchange (SOLD OUT)
5:30pm-8:00pm
Join us for our first Women in Tech Leadership Exchange of 2017! This event is exclusively for women in technology positions or women at technology enabled companies that are director level or above.
March 10
Startup Weekend Chicago Maker Edition At mHUB
6:00pm-8:30pm
mHUB Event Space 965 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago
Startup Weekend Chicago is kicking off 2017 with Startup Weekend: Maker Edition! What does Maker Edition mean? Participants will pitch startup ideas that include the development of a physical product or software+ (delivery system). No, you don’t need to be a Maker to participate. Successful startups leverage a team of diverse skill sets including business, marketing, tech development, and design!
March 13
Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program Info Session
4:00pm-6:00pm
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School 211 South Laflin Street | Room 277, Chicago
Learn more about the FREE 7-week summer programs for current 10th-11th grade girls to learn coding and get exposure to tech jobs.
March 14
Opportunity Youth Summit
9:00am-1:00pm
Chicago Cultural Center 78 E. Washington St., Chicago
Join Mayor Emanuel and Thrive Chicago at the Opportunity Youth Summit on March 14, 2017 to drive collaborative action. Led by Thrive Chicago, a working group of nonprofits, foundations, city agencies, youth leaders, educators, and researchers developed citywide recommendations to connect out of school and out of work youth aged 16-24 to jobs and education.
March 16-17
Tech For Justice Hackathon+ Veterans
Hilton Chicago – Salon B 720 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Tech for Justice Hackathon+ Veterans will bring together Nonprofit Advocates, Legal Aid Organizations, Private Lawyers, Technologists, Students, Educators, Counselors, Activists, Businesses, Entrepreneurs, Public Housing Officials, State and City Representatives, Judges, and more, to come up with innovative and transparent solutions, supporting technologies, and plans for implementation with initiative collaborators and partners.
March 21
2017 AlphaLab Gear National Hardware Cup
12:00pm-5:00pm
mHUB Event Space 965 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago
The AlphaLab Gear National Hardware Cup is a pitch competition for early-stage hardware startups. We’re touring 7 cities around the US to find and highlight the most promising physical product startups in the nation. Winners in each city will receive $3k cash, a 1 year license to Solidworks, and other prizes, as well as a chance to win a $50,000 convertible-debt investment from Startbot VC at the National Finals in April.
March 22
World Water Day
12:00pm-4:30pm
West Monroe Partners 222 W. Adams St, 11th Floor, Chicago
March 24
Chicago Tech Happy
5:00pm-7:00pm
Tantrum 1023 South State Street, Chicago
Tech Happy is a monthly networking event for Chicago tech entrepreeurs, professionals, and influencers.
March 28
Cracking the Code on Diversity & Inclusion in Chicago Tech: #DandIThinkTank
5:30pm-7:30pm
1871 222 w Merchandise Mart Plaza Suite 1212, Chicago
Think Like A Startup :: Cracking the Code on Diversity and Inclusion in Chicago Tech, is a 90 minute “think tank” style workshop. #DandIThinkTank brings together startup founders, investors, tech executives, tech professionals, students, and other stakeholders in Chicago’s tech ecosystem for a CANDID working session.
Fireside Chat with Dan’l Lewin, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft
4:30pm-6:30pm
Polsky Exchange 1452 E 53rd St, Washington Park Classroom, Chicago
Please join the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation for a Fireside Chat with Dan’l Lewin with Professor Mark Tebbe. In a career spanning over 30 years in Silicon Valley, Lewin helped launch the Macintosh into the higher education market at Apple Computer, co-founded NeXT with Steve Jobs, and joined Microsoft in 2001. As Corporate Vice President, Lewin leads Microsoft’s work in technology and civic engagement, including campaign technologies, environmental sustainability, policy-oriented academic outreach, and university relations. He will discuss his career path through a changing Silicon Valley, his thoughts on the technology industry’s strengths and weaknesses, and the relationship between the Civic Tech movement and today’s political climate.