Built inpublic.

Daniel Kleinman's civic record

1. 01

   2005–2011

   Loyola and a life in Chicago

   I moved to Edgewater in 2005 to attend Loyola, later served as student body president, and finished a B.A. in English. Chicago became home — and the place where public life became practical rather than abstract.

2. 02

   2008–2015

   Housing, policy, and public-interest work

   Across housing advocacy and nonprofit consulting, I worked on foreclosure mitigation, renter and homeowner programs, grants, policy research, and legislation. I learned how much civic outcomes depend on the unglamorous infrastructure behind them.

3. 03

   2009–2011

   Neighborhood organizing

   I founded The Neighborhood First and organized community events on Chicago's Far North Side. I later coordinated a 47th Ward council connecting 21 block clubs with one another and their public officials.

4. 04

   2012 onward

   Local School Councils

   Elected service on the Nicholas Senn High School Local School Council—and later Walt Disney Magnet School's council—put governance at its most local within reach: families, educators, neighbors, budgets, and the daily life of a school.

5. 05

   2018

   An early Activate in the field

   I used an early Activate model to focus voter outreach for Brandon Johnson's Cook County campaign. It was a small proof of a durable idea: smaller campaigns deserve useful intelligence and tools they can actually operate.

6. 06

   Now

   Building the missing infrastructure

   Activate is now a mobile-first canvassing platform for local campaigns — connecting managers, volunteers, voter outreach, and live field progress. This chapter carries the earlier work forward in product form.