SNVC Alum BallotReady is Helping Prepare Voters for the 2020 Election

BallotReady works on a voter guide sketching activity at its annual retreat, January 23, 2020 at the Polsky Exchange North. (Photo by Jean Lachat)

To celebrate Women’s History Month, an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society, the Polsky Center is highlighting women in its entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem that have broken boundaries.

This week, Polsky is recognizing 2015 Social New Venture Challenge winner BallotReady, an online voter guide that provides tailored, easy-to-digest information on the candidate and referendums listed on local ballots, which was founded by Aviva Rosman, AB ’10, MPP ’16, and Alex Niemczewski, AB ’09.

Operated by the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, along with the Polsky Center, the SNVC is the social impact track of the university’s business launch competition, the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC). For the last 10 years, the SNVC has jump-started more than 100 nonprofit and for-profit ventures with social missions that have raised more than $35 million. Of those is BallotReady, which has reached more than 9 million voters, covered 95,000 candidates, and raised more than $2.2 million for its efforts. It also sells subscriptions to a separate platform for PACs, advocacy group, campaigns, and media groups to create tools to inform and turn out voters.

Learn more about what BallotReady has been up to since winning the SNVC here. >>