Find out how Chicago Learning Exchange and our partners are remaking learning in Chicago.

June 18 Virtual Meetup Recap

Thank you for attending our June Meetup with special guest Sybil M. Madison, Ph.D., Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services! The importance of connection is more evident than ever. Check out this article for a recap of our June Virtual Meetup.

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From the Vault: A Chat with Sam Dyson

To look back on the rich history of Hive Chicago, which evolved into the Chicago Learning Exchange, we called upon Sam Dyson, who has been a leader in reimagining learning over the past decade in Chicago and beyond.

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Empowering Youth to Fight for Social Justice

Collaboration, connection, and community. These are the hallmarks of the new Master of Arts (MA) degree in Civic Media at Columbia College, in which graduate students merge activism with media practice. Students are expected to design, implement, and assess project-based solutions that address real community needs.

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A Message to the CLX Community and our City

Across the nation, people are in the streets marching and invoking their names, seizing this moment for change. Whether we are with them raising our voices in public or working for justice behind the scenes, we are really fighting for more equitable opportunities and for the dignity of Black lives.

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Digital Media Redefines Youth Activism

Studies have shown declining trust in the ability of government institutions and elected officials to address issues, especially among youth. However, this does not mean that young people are civically disengaged. Instead, young people are utilizing digital media and technology tools to create a broader definition of civics than the commonly held perspective that civic engagement is confined primarily to electoral politics.

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Moonshot Thinking

I remember Robert Friedman rolling out the idea of moonshot groups with a photograph of the moon landing, the astronaut in his uniform, feet planted on the moon’s surface. Those days we met in the basement of the Harold Washington Library at round tables where we started off with coffee, pastries, and conversation.

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A Message To Our Community

CLX’s mission is to inspire and support innovation that equips digital-age learners and leaders to close Chicago’s opportunity gap. This has been our guiding light from the very beginning, and it will continue to guide us during this time. We are all committed to providing experiences, opportunities, and pathways for Chicago’s youth, now more than ever. Together, we can ensure we stay true to this mission.

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Remake Learning Days CHI Returns for Its Second Year!

CLX is thrilled to announce that RLD CHI is returning for its second year from May 14-17, 2020. With engaging and innovative learning opportunities accessible to those that need it the most in Chicago’s communities in the South and West sides, RLD CHI 2020 hopes to continue its goal of helping close the socioeconomic learning gap.

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Maria Hibbs Reflects on CLX Growth and Predicts a New Decade of Possibilities

When Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) Board Chair Daniel Ash announced last week that my colleague Sana Jafri will become CLX’s new Executive Director, reality finally sank in. In less than three weeks, I will be retiring. After 45 years in journalism, corporate public affairs, philanthropy and non-profit leadership, it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leadership, and I do so with tremendous optimism.

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“Phenom” Wins Brother Mike Award

On November 2, 2019, “Phenom” won the inaugural Brother Mike Award—a new $5,000 no-string attached award to recognize the contributions of mentors in the out-of-school (OST) time space.

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CLX to convene Chicago’s Computer Science (CS) Ecosystem

The Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) is excited to announce that it will lead efforts in Chicago to convene and advance equity in computer science through CSforCHI, a new project that will continue to nurture and connect the computer science learning ecosystem.

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Seeding Innovation in Austin: Project Exploration’s West Side STEM Learning Center Comes to Life

In 2017 and 2018, the Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX), previously known as the Hive Fund for Connected Learning, made two seed investments in its longtime network member, Project Exploration who had identified a major problem. In the Austin neighborhood, there were a plethora of opportunities to participate in sports, but very few opportunities for youth to participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programming.

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Reflections from a Summer Spent with CLX

As a New Sector Fellow, I spent this summer becoming more acclimated with the public sector and using my placement at CLX to increase their capacity to process data and effectively administer the LRNG platform in Chicago through a partnership with the City of Chicago’s One Summer Chicago (OSC) program, the second-largest youth employment program in the country.

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CLX Powers Summer Digital Learning Opportunities for Chicago Youth

The Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX)—a nonprofit that supports remaking learning for the digital age—today announced 11 new grants totaling nearly $100,000 that support summer digital learning opportunities for predominantly African, LatinX, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) middle-school and high-school aged-youth in Chicago.

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Early Bets Lead to Continued Growth for Darius Ballinger’s Chasing23

Darius Ballinger, Founder and Executive Director of Chasing23, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting young men of color through entrepreneurship and mentorship, was recently named an Echoing Green Fellow. The prestigious fellowship is awarded to a highly selective group of social entrepreneurs working on bold social challenges.

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