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Nation Builders Hackathon
April 12 @ 9:00 am - 2:30 pm
We are challenging high school students in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles to create a prototype for a mobile application that gives members of a community the ability to:
- interact with each other,
- interact with their government,
- create economic opportunities, and
- make decisions as a community
What’s the Goal?
Students will use what they learn in class and about new technologies to design an online community (called a Decentralized Autonomous Community or DAO) that gets people involved in fixing social or economic problems that are important to young people. The categories for the competition are:
- All Home Safe First Responder Challenge
- Tools for Life Assistive Technology Challenge
- TAG-Ed Smart Cities Challenge
- USAID International Development Challenge
- DIANA Challenge
What Is The Structure of A Team?
This year’s competition is open to high school students in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles and their surrounding metro areas. A team must have five students to compete. Teams are allowed to have students from different schools, but those students must all be residents of the same metropolitan area.
How Do We Prepare for the Competition?
Once you register for the competition and receive notice that your team is official, you will receive invitations to monthly meetings with experts in project management, design thinking, and app development. These experts will help your team understand how a DAO works and how your team can create one for a community in your city. The experts will also help you develop a prototype. During the time between these meetings, your team will be able to use what you learn to create your technology.
How Does Our Team Compete in The Competition?
Your team will have from November 1 until April 1 to prepare for the competition by doing your own research, learning from our subject matter experts (SME), and participating in optional monthly training meetings. In April and May 2024, your team will participate in an in-person competition in your city to pitch the product or concept your team developed. During the 4-hour event, technology experts will help participants put the final touches on their prototypes and then pitch thier solution to civic, buisness, and community leaders.
My school is participating. How many teams can my school have?
A school may have as many teams participating as it chooses. However, each participant can only be a member of one team. Each team entering the competition must have five members. Each team member must register and fill out a waiver form in order to participate. Each team must also have an adult representative. An adult can represent more than one team.
What if I don’t have a full team or my school isn’t participating?
Register as an individual and the organizers of the challenge will work to help you join a team that can benefit from your skillset.
How Does Judging Work?
Judges will choose the best projects based on the following elements
- Utility – does the product solve the problem it was designed to solve?
- Design – is it practical? is it intuitive? Does it maximize DAO technologies?
- Quality – Is it efficient? Is it effective? Is it progressive?
What Are The Prizes?
The winning team of the Atlanta Challenge will receive a $10,000 scholarship to their choice of college or university ($2,000 for each team member)
The winning team of the Chicago Challenge will receive a $10,000 cash prize ($2,000 for each team member)
The winning team of the Los Angeles Challenge will receive a $10,000 cash prize ($2,000 for each team member)
Will I Need A Media Wavier?
Your registration and participation in this event signifies your consent to have your likeness used to promote this event and future All Home Safe Innovation Challenge competitions.