RSVP: hackfordemocracy.org

THE HACK
MIT GOV/LAB is organizing We the People/Hack for Democracy to demonstrate MIT’s deep commitment to core American (and human) values of fairness, equality, and openness. In this hackathon, creative and compassionate people from across MIT and the Boston area will come together to tackle the immediate challenges U.S. organizations are now facing to safeguard these values.

THE GOAL
Our goal is to bring together people with diverse backgrounds (computer science, engineering, political science, business, communications) and skills (coding, graphic design, storytelling) to unite around a common goal to promote fairness, openness, and equality.

Example hacks and data visualizations might include devising strategies for sanctuary cities to become less reliant on federal funding; tracking the impact of political actions and protests; coordinating the protection of scientific data; creating alert systems to report abuses and attacks on rule of law; and/or streamlining recurring online donation platforms. Projects will be presented during a lightning round by invited organizations at the hack opening event.

Participating Organizations:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – Protecting the rights of everyone in America. The ACLU of Massachusetts—a private, nonpartisan organization with more than 20,000 supporters across the Commonwealth—is a state affiliate of the national ACLU. For nearly 100 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has worked daily in the courts, in legislatures, and in communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, Bill Rights and laws of the United States.

LET AMERICA VOTE – Leading the fight for voting rights. Jason Kander started Let America Vote to fight back against proposals across the country that make it harder for eligible voters to exercise their constitutional right to cast a ballot. Whether it’s extreme identification requirements, questionable purges of voter rolls, voter intimidation, new and extreme voter registration processes, or anything that makes voting harder, Let America Vote will be there to lead the way against it.

GENERATION CITIZEN – We empower young people to become engaged and effective citizens. Generation Citizen (GC) believes that every young person in the US has the right to an effective action civics education, which provides them with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to be an engaged citizen in our democracy. As its core program,GC inspires civic participation through a Common Core-aligned action civics class that gives students the opportunity to experience real-world democracy. Through student-driven projects, youth learn to effect policy change by engaging with local government and leaders to solve community problems such as homelessness, gang violence, college affordability, and bullying. The result is passionate, responsible civic participation that will create vibrant communities and a vibrant American democracy.

SPONSORS
MIT GOV/LAB • MICROSOFT • MIT LIBRARIES • MIT ANTHROPOLOGY • MIT CENTER FOR CIVIC MEDIA • OPEN GOV FOUNDATION • MIT POLITICAL SCIENCE