Most Recent EVENT:
April 16, 2022 @ 6:30pm, via ZOOM (link to be shared with RSVPs)
PAST EVENTS:
Reboot Democracy: Innovations in Election Tech
September 10, 2019 @ 6:00pm, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, 16 Washington Pl, New York, NY 10003
On September 10th, Reboot Democracy hosted drinks, snacks, and an evening of engaging discussion at the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute! Early-stage project teams (Knoq.co, Vote Captain, We The Peeps, and more) shared what they were working on, we heard from a diverse group of expert speakers including Beth Noveck ( Director at TheGovLab and Chief Innovation Officer at NJGOV), Susan Lerner (Executive Director of Common Cause New York), and Scott Weiss (Partner at Community by Design), and then we opened up the mic to the audience for quick pitches before we broke into networking.
December 7th, 2018 @ The Newseum Knight Conference Center
555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC
The internet has been hailed as an equalizer, enabling diverse voices to share their views. But today, many of the laws that protect speech online are being challenged, and the internet can often seem unwelcoming. At the day-long Future of Speech Online summit, experts from across aisles and sectors brought powerful and sometimes provocative perspectives to move dialogues forward.
Reboot Democracy: Leveling the Playing Field
November 15th, 2018 @ NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, New York, NY 10003
In November, Reboot Democracy was hosted by the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute for an evening of drinks, snacks, and engaging discussion! Three early-stage NYU startup teams (Govern for America, Motivote, and BallotBox) shared what they are working on, and then we heard lightning talks from Yael Eisentat (Former CIA Officer, White House Advisor, & Elections Integrity Expert), Mike Ward (TurboVote Program Director @ Democracy Works), and Ben Yee (State Committeeman and Founder of ShiftSpark)
LMHQ Women’s Breakfast: Democracy
October 23rd, 2018 @ LMHQ, New York, NY
Speakers included: Jen Poyant (Producer of ZigZag Podcast), Manoush Zomorodi, Lillian Ruiz (COO and Co-Founder of Civil), Christine Quinn, (President & CEO of Win and former Speaker of NYC Council), Marisa Kabas (Editorial Director at Crush The Midterms), Natalia Aristizabal (Co-Organizing Director at Make The Road), Stephanie Gent (Digital Strategy Director at Everytown for Gun Safety), Moira McDermott (21 in '21 Initiative), and a comedy performance by Cody Lindquist (co-host of Two Beers In: A Tipsy Political Roundtable podcast). Motivote was also onsite to provide voting accountability!
Beyond “I agree”: A democratic technology, without Big Tech
September 25th, 2018, 5pm @ 2950 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
A public lecture by Cory Doctorow followed by a Q&A with Jad Abumrad.
The techlash marks the end of complacency over Big Tech: in a single instant, states have gone from being blase about the risks of a monopolized digital world, to being certain that the answer involves limiting the digital monopolists. The MOST democratic future is one where everyone gets to hack, where we seize the means of computation and distribute it to everyone.
September 6th, 2018 @ ISL, 641 S Street NW, Washington, DC
In September, we hosted our first DC-based Reboot Democracy event. The community joined us for drinks, snacks, and an evening of engaging discussion! Early-stage project teams, Whistleblower Aid, VoteWithMe, Tuesday Company, CVX, It Starts Today, and Reach shared what they are working on. Then, we heard from a diverse group of expert speakers including Adam Ambrogi (Program Director, Elections Program at Democracy Fund), Michelle Bishop (Disability Advocacy Specialist for Voting Rights at National Disability Rights Network), Evan Burfield (CEO of Union.vc and Co-Founder of 1776), and Bob Lamb (Founder & CEO, Foundation for Inclusion and Former Strategist at Dept of Defense), and then we opened up the mic to anyone who wanted to pitch an idea they are excited about before we broke into networking.
To see the archived livestream of this event, visit: bit.ly/DCRDlivestream
August 15th @ 500 Startups, 814 Mission Street, San Francisco
In August, Reboot Democracy teamed up with New Media Ventures for an event focused on making every voice count in our democracy. The founders of Fund This, We Vote, Syndicator.io, BallotReady, CivicFeed, and Campaign Greenhouse shared what they are working on and we heard from a diverse group of expert speakers including Manny Yekutiel (Founder of the civic event space “Manny’s”), Jill Habig (Public Rights Project Founder & Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government Fellow), Osi Imeokparia (Chan Zuckerberg - Justice & Opportunity Initiative & former product leader at HFA, Google, & eBay), Lili Gangas (2018 New America CA Fellow and the Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center for Social Impact), and Shannon Baker (Director of Partnerships at New Media Ventures). Then we opened up the mic to anyone who wanted to pitch an idea they were excited about (Polltown, Purple Patriot, CivilPursuit.com, Civic, and Maestro Conference to name a few) before we broke into networking.
July 17th, 2018 @ ThoughtWorks, 99 Madison Ave, New York City
In July we teamed up with Progressive HackNight for an event focused on democracy tech in an election season. Progressive HackNight projects pitched what they're working on and got straight to work. Early-stage project teams Motivote, The Flip Side, MobilizeAmerica, IssueVoter, and OpenPD shared their projects, and we heard from seasoned experts Nate Lubin (former Director of the Office of Digital Strategy at the Obama White House), Miranda Yaver (political science lecturer at Columbia and Tufts), Lawrence Norden (Deputy Director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program), Catherine Vaughan (CEO & Co-Founder at Flippable), and Trisha Quan (Senior Engineer, DNC). Then we opened up the mic to anyone who wanted to pitch an idea or make an announcement before we broke into networking.
March 28th, 2018 @ Matter.vc, 41 Union Square West, New York City
In March we teamed up with Matter for an event focused on the evolution of the democracy tech ecosystem. Micgoat, TheStacker, Vigilant, Grafiti, and Blastchat shared their projects, and we heard from Josh Lucido (Director of NYC Investments at Matter.vc), Rapi Castillo (Founder of ProgHacknight), and Emily Baum (Co-founder and Managing Director of Reboot Democracy). Then we heard some open mic pitches and broke into networking.
November 28th, 2017 @ The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, New York City
In November we teamed up with Harmony Labs and The Brown Institute for Media Innovation for an event focused on improving the spread of information in our democratic system. Project Ratio, Buoy Up, The Lamp, YVoteNY.org, and Open Progress shared their projects, and we heard from Alexis Wichowski (Press Secretary & Sr. Advisor at NYC Department of Veterans' Services), James Slezak (Founder of Swayable, Founder and Managing Partner of the New Economy Lab, Former VP and Chief of Operations of the NYT Global, Founding Partner of Purpose), Peter Koechley (Co-founder Upworthy, formerly with MoveOn and the Onion digital), and Mark Hansen (Director, Brown Institute for Media Innovation and Professor of Journalism, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism). Then we heard some open mic pitches and broke into networking.
August 9th, 2017 @ Civic Hall - 118 West 22nd Street, New York City
In August we teamed up with Civic Hall to host a discussion on how to increase citizen engagement in our democratic system. The innovators behind Hope, g0v, CommonPlace, Defiant, and Action Map shared the projects they are working on, we heard from a diverse group of speakers, and then we opened up the mic to the room to pitch ideas before we broke into networking.
May 16th, 2017 @ Covo - 981 Mission Street, San Francisco
In May we teamed up with The Arena and CHORUS to discuss Running for Office and Election Technology. Teams shared the projects they are working on, we heard from a diverse group of speakers, and we opened up the mic for quick pitches before we kicked off the networking portion of the evening.
Jan 25th, 2017 @ Pivotal Labs - 875 Howard St, San Francisco
At the Reboot Democracy Reunion we hosted:
1) A showcase of the progress that has been made by various hackathon teams
2) Speakers Jacky Chang (Hillary for America), David Evan Harris (Chancellor's Public Scholar, UC Berkeley; Founder, Governance Futures Lab, Institute for the Future), Keith Hiatt (VP of Human Rights Program Benetech), and Chris Jerdonek (President of San Francisco Elections Commission; Co-founder of Shotwell Labs) shared their experience in the tech+policy/gov space--lessons learned and ideas for ways to make a difference
3) Networking – an opportunity to connect with others and continue building the future
Reboot Democracy Hackathon
December 9-11, 2016 @ 500 Startups, San Francisco
The Reboot Democracy Hackathon is a non-partisan call to action for people inspired to use technology to build scalable tools that increase citizen education and participation in government, and transform our political system into one that is truly representative and responsive to its citizens. All are welcome, from engineers, designers, product managers, business-people, marketers, investors, etc.
LET'S MEET!
We host and promote events that help passionate people connect, learn, and create. Check back for hackathons, happy hours, and discussions about the intersection of democracy and technology.
If you have an event that we should promote, let us know!