Civic Innovation & Action

CivicLab Coming Back In 2018!

CivicLab projects
We are thrilled to announce that we are coming back as a physical space in 2018! We never stopped our civic work – see the TIF Illumination Project, the “Chicago Is Not Broke” Book Project, the POWER Institute and our new site documenting Chicago’s toxic civic eco-system, ChicagoCivics.

We have a LOT of work to do – including our extending our TIF work into legal research and litigation and our newest work, The Democracy Protection Project which will build on our candidate recruiting and training to include legal assistance with getting and staying on the ballot!

CivicLab Closes West Loop Space June 30, 2015

After two years CivicLab closed its West Loop location on June 30, 2015. We’d love to hear from you if you used the Lab or found what we did here useful. Please comment at our Facebook page.

Interview Reveals (Mostly) All About Tom

CivicLab co-founder Tom Tresser was interviewed for the master designer series of podcasts produced by the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative. The podcst is 47 minutes long. What does Tom have to do with design? Well might you ask. You’ll just have hunker down and listen. Hint – Tom used to be an actor, theater producer and arts activist.

All TIF Presentations Now Available

Since February of 2013 The TIF Illumination Project has Illuminated 127 TIFs across 29 wards in front of some 3,400 people. In case you missed any of those thrilling presentations, you can now download any or all of them for only $2.50 each at our new TIF Data Store. Just click on the “TIF Illumination” category and you’ll see all the presentations and other files that are available.

Remember, while the TIF work is 100% volunteer powered, we have to cover the expenses of our home, the CivicLab and we’d also like to build an online platform to make all this data (and much more) easily available.

You can also donate a tax deductible contribution via our fiscal agent, the Investigative News Network here.

“TIF 101” Presentation Now Online

Want to take a crash course in Tax Increment Financing? If so, watch this 33 minute video that will introduce the topic and reveal the details of TIF in Chicago and the work of the TIF Illumination Project. The presenter is CivicLab co-founder, Tom Tresser, who is the Lead Organizer for the TIF research and presenter at TIF town meetings. The video is on this page. It’s password protected and we’re asking a contribution of $5.00 to get the password. All our work is 100% volunteer driven but we’ve some bills to pay and plans to expand. You’re welcome to invest more in our work, of course! Please use this PayPal link to make your payment. When we receive notice of your payment we’ll email you the password.

Theater Of Public Policy Really Engaging!

The Theater of Public Policy combines current events with improv comedy sketches to illuminate current issues!

2013 TIF Research Released

The TIF Illumination Project has reviewed all 151 annual reports of the city’s Tax Increment Financing districts. At the end of 2013 the city’s TIF accounts held $1.71 BILLION in property tax dollars! This is a modest increase from 2012. A full report on our 2013 research is here.

The TIF Illumination Project is completely volunteer driven but we can really use your contribution so that we can publish all our work in multiple formats. Donate via PayPal here.

Get Civic Smart @ The CivicLab

Come by and visit @ 114 N. Aberdeen Street. Take a workshop. Teach a workshop. Co-work here. Intern here .

I, Citizen Activist Design Session

The CivicLab is helping to build the “I, Citizen Project” with the folks from the Museum of Contemporary Phenomena. This interactive experience will be unfolding at the Columbia College Glass Curtain Gallery in April.

I, Citizen – The Activist Game MAKERS Workshop from Helen Slade on Vimeo.

CivicLab Launches Next Civic Illumination

On February 1 ten volunteer researchers braved the blankets of snow falling on Chicago to gather at the CivicLab to launch the next phase our our Civic Illumination work. We are now looking at the New Market Tax Credit Program and hedge fund activities in Chicago. This six minute video introduces the work and the reason for undertaking it. To get more details or to volunteer, contact Tom Tresser at tom@civiclab.us.

Category: Civic Innovation & Action

CivicLab Coming Back In 2018!

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CivicLab Closes West Loop Space June 30, 2015

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Interview Reveals (Mostly) All About Tom

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All TIF Presentations Now Available

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“TIF 101” Presentation Now Online

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Theater Of Public Policy Really Engaging!

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2013 TIF Research Released

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Get Civic Smart @ The CivicLab

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I, Citizen Activist Design Session

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CivicLab Launches Next Civic Illumination

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