HackBAC 2025: Change-Makers

The Black Alumni Collective (BAC) at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in partnership with The Glasgow Group. The theme for HackBAC 205 is centered on opportunities for students to become CHANGE-MAKERS. HackBAC will take place at St. Andrew's Episcopal School School in Potomac, MD, on January 30th through February 2, 2025.

Rooted Renaissance: Revolutionizing BIPOC Communities through Environmental Equity & Justice

This year, HackBAC 2025 brings together middle and high school enhance the capacity, potential and creativity necessary to address social issues and to create sustainable social, political or environmental impact in our shared society. What are the pressing societal challenges and how can we be a part of the change?

Participants work in teams to develop innovative solutions for critical issues such as poverty, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. The essence of this social justice hackathon lies in its ability to harness the collective creativity and expertise of its participants, driving meaningful and sustainable change.

By focusing on real problems and applying empathic insight, this hackathon encourages participants to think creatively and develop practical solutions that ultimately contribute to solving complex societal problems and fostering a spirit of innovation, collaboration, and social responsibility.

HackBAC 2025 aims to help student teams create solutions and develop their ideas by providing extensive mentor support and advice in the areas of coding, CAD, robotics, and AI. Developers, designers, product experts, and those passionate about sustainability are also invited to participate in HackBAC 2025 as mentors. Student participants from grades 8-12 are invited to offer a fresh and creative perspective on social issues and develop new responses through the lens of social justice to create a more sustainable and inclusive future for everyone.

Conflict

Throughout human history, conflict has been an inherent aspect of interaction, arising from disagreements, differing opinions, and competing values. Rather than viewing peace as merely the absence of conflict, how might we embrace the complexities and nuances of conflict? When navigated thoughtfully, how can conflict serve as a pathway towards positive change and greater social good and drive meaningful progress in our communities and beyond? How can we hack how we disagree?

Sustainability

The practice of sustainability and regenerability act as a catalyst for human action, weaving through our decisions, opportunities, and challenges. Sustainability profoundly shapes our existence, enhancing the quality of life, preserving environmental integrity, and molding urban landscapes. Our planet’s health is a social imperative. Together, how do we innovate towards a sustainable future where energy solutions bridge disciplines and ideologies to pave a path towards resilience and progress?

Legal

This track highlights the intersection of law, technology and social change. Whether it is public access to information about legal rights, locations of legal services or connections to legal aid, this track helps with all levels of access to professional legal advice in medical, housing, and refugee cases, how can we bring a more equitable distribution of legal services to all communities and people?

Social Equality

This track addresses issues like education, healthcare, or economic opportunities through the lens of gender equality, racial justice, economic empowerment, and accessibility. How can we better build connections, campaigns, and processes to address equality for all?

Immigrants and Refugees

This track examines resources and networks for refugees with the aim of transforming lives and communities through safe spaces and personalized support services. How can we the newly arrived and vulnerable in our communities?

Government and Policy

This track imagines those structures that allow for data transparency, constituent services, citizen input, public correspondence, artificial intelligence, and the broader legislative process. How can we make the government easier to navigate and communicate with?

In previous years, HackBAC was intentionally created as an affinity space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) 8th-12th grade highly motivated students who have demonstrated interest in social justice and those who work in solidarity to advance social justice for these identities. This year, HackBAC is open to students of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

One of the Black Alumni Collective’s (BAC) values of engagement to drive institutional change is transparency. Thus, we as the BAC aim to model such in our actions, decisions, and policies in hopes of fostering a greater sense of trust in all that we do.

As an advocacy organization operating at the grassroots level, working to transform the institution of education and address the racial wealth gap through intentionally designed programming, we believe it’s of the utmost importance that we are candid about our pricing and revenue model.

Meaningful mentorship is at the cornerstone of our approach to unlock and harness genius in those who participate in HackBAC. We provide an honorarium to our mentors who are committed to the mission of HackBAC and bringing this event to life. Additionally, the prize money is seed money to move solutions that are created during the program from pitch to prototype, and ultimately make a tangible positive impact in one own’s community.

The bottom line: we want to ensure that each student who would like to attend HackBAC can so do, regardless of possible financial or budgetary limitations.

We are offering multiple participant discounts depending upon the number of students that compete from each school. Due to the continued generosity of our donors, we can provide a few discretionary partial scholarships to reduce the cost of participation.

If the cost of the event prevents student participation, please have the Faculty Advisor contact the HackBAC planning team at [email protected].

As there are a limited number of scholarships available, we ask that you use your best judgment when requesting a scholarship. Additionally, all participants are expected to attend the entirety of the event and all sessions. To request a scholarship application, please have the Faculty Advisor contact the HackBAC planning team at [email protected].

Note: Language inspired by and adapted from the Transgender Traning Institute.

• HackBAC SwagPAC
• Ability to win up to $1,000 in entrepreneurship credits — additional credits available to be used as seed money post-hackathon
• 6 total opportunities to engage with the HackBAC community throughout the school year!
• Assistance with prototyping your idea, no matter if your team placed or not; with 3 post hackathon gatherings to move idea from pitch to prototype
• Exposure and ability to network with high-level executives and experts
• Placement with a dynamic mentor that guides your team
• Opportunities to create national and international networks of like-minded students
• Optional Friday Night Mixer!

Jan. 27 - Feb. 3, 2024

Opening Genius Talk (Virtual): January 27: 7-8:30 pm EST

Day 1: January 31: 8 am - 4 pm (@ St. Andrew's Episcopal School, MD)

Day 2: 9 am - 6 pm (@ St. Andrew's Episcopal School, MD)

Day 3: 8 am - 12 pm (@ St. Andrew's Episcopal School, MD)

The Black Alumni Collective is an advocacy organization formed by five Black alumni of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. During the summer of racial reckoning of 2020 in the United States, the members of the inaugural BAC Leadership Team set out with the desire to impact the institution of education and support the racial justice and equality movement domestically. Furthermore, the BAC is committed to helping St. Andrew’s work with its Black constituents and beyond to foster and model reconciliation, ensure racial equity and equality, and enrich the experience of Black St. Andrew’s students and alumni through fellowship, advocacy, and mentorship.

Host or Publisher The Black Alumni Collective