A Different Look at Summer School with Rêve Academy and CoderSpace

Even though they’re learning the ins and outs of tech and business building while classes are out, Chicago students have had anything but a summer school experience at 1871 this summer. We welcomed students from both Rêve Academy and CoderSpace for a pair of innovative programs aimed at increasing opportunities in tech for young students and positively impacting communities.

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 We’ve talked and worried for years about the potential harm to businesses that unforeseen results and unintended consequences can cause, especially when the companies involved are new and relatively immature. When you read the typical after-action analyses, which try to make sense of these seemingly “abrupt” changes or the “surprise” upsets, they are almost always directed toward studying how well or poorly the particular actor, entity, or business fared as a result of the inability to anticipate or mitigate the nasty changes brought about by its own deliberate actions. Of course, these kinds of problems don’t simply effect newbies.

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After planning her fair share of weddings and bachelorette parties for free, Christina Hecker decided it was time to make a little money on matrimony. Hecker, a member of WiSTEM’s fifth cohort, is the founder of Wedmony — an online platform that aims to connect couples planning their weddings and offers them simple tools to help them keep on schedule during the process.

[Read more…] about Wedmony Looks to Simplify Planning for Your Big Day

If there were a looking-glass that showed Chicago’s future, it would have been on stage August 16 at 1871. Digi.City Connect — a multi-city series of discussions with lawmakers, government officials, technologists and corporations — made a stop in Chicago to discuss the social and economic impact of smart city technologies with several local experts.

[Read more…] about Hacking Chicago: The Future Smart City is Already Here

The 1871/IHCC Hispanic Technology Incubator is a cohort-based accelerator that provides Latinx-led businesses with programming and mentorship. We asked each of the participating entrepreneurs about what makes them tick, and this week, we say hello to Carlos Frederico Rosenwald, Founder and Chief Story Officer at Story Street Labs, an online community that welcomes anyone to read, write, and share short-stories and serialized works of fiction.

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What happens when three Chicago Public School teachers combine 60 years of experience? In Michelle Krumholz’ case — a tech startup. Evolved Educator was born out of solving a problem she and fellow teachers experienced when Common Core rolled out in public schools across the country: how to develop effective lesson plans efficiently to meet the changing requirements in the classroom.

[Read more…] about Evolved Educator Aims to Slash Lesson Planning Time for Teachers