Andrew Rasiej is a business, civic, and social entrepreneur who has spent his entire career at the leading edge of transformative industries. He began working on model urban renewal projects including the South Street Seaport and the World Financial Center in New York City, then founded Irving Plaza (1991), one of America’s most iconic live music venues. He co-founded the Digital Club Network and Plug-In (1994)—the first building a live concert network on the internet across more than fifty venues in major U.S. cities long before people called it “streaming,” the second the first conference on the digital transformation of the music industry. He founded MOUSE.org (1997), the first nonprofit to provide internet access in New York City public schools. He helped pioneer the use of technology in political campaigns, serving as co-chair of Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential technology advisory committee. In 2005, he ran a nationally recognized campaign for New York City Public Advocate, championing broadband access as a public utility and universal internet access to bridge the digital divide—years before policymakers understood what that meant. He then advocated for the digital transformation of government services as a member of President Obama’s technology transition committee. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he mobilized volunteers for relief efforts and proposed creating a national emergency technology corps; Congress voted 97–0 to establish the program, which is now known as FEMA’s Tech Corps. He became Chairman of the NY Tech Meetup (2010), which he grew to over 60,000 members and is still considered the largest meetup group in the world. He is also a successful seed-stage investor and advisor to technology startups. He co-founded Civic Hall (2015) as a center of collaboration for people working on technologies for the public good, and then founded Civic Hall @ Union Square (2024), a model of a 21st century community center and the largest digital skills workforce training facility in the United States. Most recently, Andrew helped start the Foundation for Civic AI (2025), which gives nonprofit organizations access to a supercomputer to leverage AI to support their work. Andrew writes and speaks publicly on civic and technology issues and advises government elected officials, corporations, foundations, and policy makers on digital transformation, how to create a culture of innovation, and re-imagine the future of civic engagement.

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