Our 2025 Year in Review
Published on Feb 24, 2026 by Vien Nguyen, Michael Chladek and Adam Hecktman
As we gear up for our annual Member Meeting and Board Elections on February 24, 2026, we’re excited to share our 2025 Year in Review with all of our Members and the broader Chi Hack Night community.
If you’re newer to Chi Hack Night, this marks our tenth year of publishing these reflections. They’ve become a living record of how our community has grown, adapted, and continued to champion civic tech in Chicago. You can trace that evolution through our past reviews from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.
In that spirit of transparency and celebration, here are the high‑level highlights from Chi Hack Night in 2025.
Presentations Breakdown
Below is every presentation from 2025, organized by topic. You can also watch all of them in one YouTube playlist.
Community
Advocacy
Government
- 659: The IMPACT Program — Funding solutions that address digital gaps and leverage storytelling
- 656: Generating 1.9 Million Static Web Pages to Explore How the Cook County Assessor’s Statistical Model Valued Your Home
- 647: City of Chicago’s Department of Technology and Innovation
- 639: Cook County Treasurer’s Office
Design
LGBTQ
Immigration
- 653: Investigating the Trump administration’s deportations to a maximum security prison in El Salvador
Education
- 652: The Civics of Technology Project
- 641: Build your Tech skills with CCC
- 633: Learning and AI Tools
Food security
- 651: Chicago Food Rescue
Events
Transit
Library
Housing
- 642: Property tax foreclosures in Cook County
- 629: Rental Affordability in Chicago
- 632: Illegal evictions in Chicago
- 621: Neighborhood Defenders — Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis
- 620: Landlord Mapper — The National Landlord Database Initiative
Environment and Conservation
- 640: How to Save the Point
- 632: What’s in the River? Urban Rivers citizen science monitoring of the Chicago River
- 624: ChicagoAQI and the Political Technology of Air Monitors
Digital Access and Equity
Academic
Finances
This past year, Chi Hack Night took in enough donations and sponsorships to cover not only our 2025 expenses but also to remain in a good position to continue covering our remote as well as hybrid remote/in-person events well into 2026.
In 2025, we saw continued strength in individual donations. Thank you to those who donated, especially those donated multiple times or are contributing on a monthly basis! We also maintained organizations providing sponsorship donations to Chi Hack Night (thank you For Good Advisory and DataMade!).
As in other recent years, in-person events remained the main expense for 2025, which included providing food, snacks, and supplies at such events. To help ensure the organization’s financial health, one major change in 2025 was moving away from professional video recording and editing, moving to our own equipment to handle the livestreaming and recording of our in-person events. While a bit lower than previous years, we also saw presenters continuing to take advantage of Chi Hack Night’s honorarium for speakers.
| Cash on Hand Beginning of 2025 | $ 12,509.32 |
| Income | |
| Individual Donations | 2,078.00 |
| Membership Fees | 600.00 |
| Sponsorship Donations | 12,500.00 |
| Total Income | $ 15,178.00 |
| Expenses | |
| Advertising & Marketing | 823.44 |
| Event Space | 1,430.00 |
| Event Supplies | 447.21 |
| Food for In-Person Chi Hack Night | 5,982.30 |
| Legal & Professional Services | 557.50 |
| Office Supplies & Software | 1,369.25 |
| PayPal Fees | 52.28 |
| Speaker Honorarium | 1,400.00 |
| Taxes & Licenses | 11.00 |
| Total Expenses | $12,072.98 |
| Net Operating Income | $3,105.02 |
| Cash on Hand End of 2025 | $15,614.34 |
About the author
Vien Nguyen, Michael Chladek and Adam Hecktman