Chi Hack Night - Run On Climate

Join us for our in-person Hack Nights at TeamWorking at TechNexus!

We are a group of thousands of designers, academic researchers, data journalists, activists, policy wonks, web developers and curious citizens who want to make our city more just, equitable, transparent and delightful to live in through data, design and technology.

Presenter: Jack Hanson, Founder and Executive Director of Run On Climate

Cities account for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions and have enormous power to reduce emissions through local policy. With an incoming federal government that plans to move backwards on climate, it is more crucial now than ever that cities are moving forward.

Jack Hanson is an Evanston native who just moved back to Chicagoland after spending twelve years in Burlington, VT. At age 24 Jack was elected to the Burlington City Council with record voter turnout. During his two terms on Council, Jack championed over a dozen successful climate policies, including mandatory weatherization of all rental housing. In 2021, Jack launched Run On Climate to support bold local climate action in communities across the U.S.

What happens at a hack night?

Every week, we have a 45 minute presentation by a government agency, non-profit, company or group who've made use of open data or built a civic technology application. The goal of these presentations is to showcase the different uses and opportunities, as well as challenges and successes in the civic technology movement.

After the presentation, the format of the event is similar to that of a hackathon where breakout groups self-organize to work on civic apps, discuss policies and their implications, learn technical skills and network with a welcoming and diverse community at the intersection of technology and government.

But I'm not a techie!

That's ok! We encourage non-technical folks to pair up and learn from our community's designers and developers. We've seen time and time again, the best civic projects come from teams with a diverse background.

Remember, there's much more to making a great app than just coding.

ASL interpreting available

If you have need for an American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreter, let us know when you register for the event and we will provide one, provided enough lead time.

Questions about the event? We have answers:

Q: I won’t be able to make it in person. Will the event be live streamed?

A: Yes. The event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/chihacknight/live

Q: Will there be food?

A: Yes! We will be serving Costa Rican empanadas, chicken casado and rice from Irazu!

Host or Publisher Chi Hack Night