By WKTV Staff
The Right Place, Inc. welcomed Steve Wozniak, Silicon Valley icon and co-founder of Apple Inc., as the headline speaker at the Tech Week Grand Rapids 2025 Kick-Off event at GLC Live in downtown Grand Rapids. Wozniak spoke in front of a capacity crowd of 1,300.
Widely known as one of the most influential figures in modern computing, Wozniak set the tone for a week of celebrating innovation, collaboration, and the transformative power of technology in the Greater Grand Rapids region.
“We are beyond thrilled to welcome Steve Wozniak to Grand Rapids,” said Andria Romkema, Senior Vice President of Business Development at The Right Place and lead organizer of Tech Week Grand Rapids. “His story is a testament to what happens when creativity meets technical brilliance, and we believe his presence will inspire our community to continue pushing boundaries and thinking big.”
A multi-day celebration
Now in its fourth year, Tech Week Grand Rapids is a multi-day celebration (Sept. 15-20) of the Greater Grand Rapids region’s growing tech ecosystem. Hosted by The Right Place and powered by over 100 community partners, Tech Week features more than 70 events focused on artificial intelligence, med-tech, software, mobility, cybersecurity and more.
In 2024, the event welcomed over 16,000 attendees.
For full 2025 event details, visit techweekgr.com.
About Steve Wozniak
A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for more than forty years, Steve Wozniak helped shape and innovate the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products, the Apple I and II. He also influenced the popular Macintosh.
In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, he introduced his Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive. The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industry.
Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. Making significant investments of his time and resources in education, he adopted the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.
Wozniak has been honored with the National Medal of Technology, inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and received the Hoover Medal, given for “outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity.”
