Chicago, a city known for building technology that twice helped elect President Barack Obama, wants to get its tech community to rally around the next Democratic presidential nominee.
There will be an official Hillary Clinton fundraising event in Chicago on September 30 that looks to gather Chicago's tech, startup and young professional community. The event is taking place at ContextMedia (though ContextMedia isn't associated with the event; it's just providing the space), and it's being hosted by Julius Givens, the founder of The Explorer Program, an organization that introduces art and creative thinking to high school students to help them solve real-world problems. Givens also works in sales at ContextMedia.
"Now that we have this up-and-coming tech community in Chicago, we want to get these folks involved," Givens said. "Not just in local politics, but in national politics as well."
The goal of the event is to fundraise for Clinton--tickets are between $50 and $500--and Givens hopes the event will encourage people to volunteer and donate their time to help the campaign as well.
"The last couple months (of the election), it's all a ground game," Givens said. "And young people work a ground game better than anyone else. It's knocking on doors and making phone calls that's going to make the different between who wins and loses."
The event will feature a keynote from John Carson, the former deputy assistant to President Obama and former national field director for the 2008 Obama for America campaign. He's expected to explain the difference campaign volunteers can make going into the final weeks of a campaign, Givens said.
Chicago was the headquarters for both of Obama's election campaigns, and the tech used in 2008 and 2012 has changed the way politicians run for office. Led by Michael Slaby in 2008 and Harper Reed in 2012, the tech teams rallied supporters on social media, launched quick pay options for easy campaign donations, used data to track information about voters and organizers and launched other political tech innovations that hadn't been done before. Slaby's new startup Timshel, based in Chicago, is working with the Clinton campaign.
The Clinton campaign headquarters is in Brooklyn this year, but Givens is hoping that Chicago's tech community can still play a role in electing her to the White House.
“In 2008, Chicago paved the path for President Obama’s eight successful years," Givens said, adding "over the next eight years, Hillary will inspire entrepreneurs and young people to take the risks required to keep America at the forefront of technology, economic growth, and quality of life.”
