I recently had the distinct honor to serve as a judge for Student Dream’s Blhackathon, the first ever Black History Month hackathon in which participants were invited to celebrate the history of black innovation while achieving some milestones of their own. The intent of Student Dream, a nonprofit that trains college students of color to launch startups, was to encourage the creation of ventures that would extend beyond that celebratory month and challenge contestants — roughly between the ages of 19 and 25 — to devise lasting solutions to persistent problems facing the African American community. My fellow judges and I discovered a series of powerful, tech-driven concepts by an eclectic, enterprising group of innovators.
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Nena Ugwuomo, CEO of Student Dream, founded the non-profit accelerator in March 2014 driven “to see an incredibly diverse generation of leaders educated and equipped to solve problems, reach their creative potential and contribute to the vibrancy of local, national and global economies through innovation.†This Howard University grad has used the organization to enable more than 200 students to transform ideas into companies and raise $60,000 in start-up capital.
The event was held at East Harlem-based TEEM Coworking — one of the event sponsors — which makes collaborative, shared space available for a unique mix of creative, tech-oriented freelancers and entrepreneurs. Founded by Sharlene Kahn, it offered the perfect venue.
Ugwuomo shares the ground rules of the blhackathon with the eight teams that spent 24 hours developing apps, websites and other vehicles to address education, health, broken homes and economic development, among other critical issues confronting Black America. All teams, however, were given a mandate to solve these problems by creating sustainable, for-profit business models.
As part of the process, team members reviewed their pitches — a critical component for winning the grand prize: a $600 gift certificate for General Assembly Front Row, immersive online tutorials from top practitioners on web development, product management and user experience design.
The eight teams clocked long hours in developing a range of concepts, ranging from websites to help individuals engage in healthier eating as a means of eradicating diabetes and other ailments to apps designed to narrow the achievement and financing gaps in education.
Throughout the day, team members shared ideas, structured business plans and tested the viability and accessibility of their tech platforms…
…And as you can see some of the participants had a hard time making it through the night.
I was a member of a panel of leading tech and business experts that included Clayton Banks, founder and Co-executive producer of Silicon Harlem, a for-profit organization with the mission transforming the Uptown New York community into an
innovation and technology Hub (standing); Felicia O’Garro, a web developer and principal of Code Crew, a professional network for engineers, designers and entrepreneurs; Arthur Ward Jr., a programmer and game creator with Babycastles; and Errol King, student experience manager at Google. We had the fun job of serving as grand inquisitors of each team’s presentation based on their ability to meet the following criteria: the weight of the problem, strength of the solution, product demo, business model and pitch.  I loved every minute of it.The first team to pitch was Black Magic which created a new format for children to learn about black historical figures through digital distribution. The group believed that they could increase engagement with black history multi-fold with the use of technology.
Up next was team Munch, which seeks to reduce obesity and diabetes in the African American community by using a social recipe app that enables individuals to take popular Southern cuisine and create such dishes as healthier alternatives.
Harlem Block Produce seeks to create an online co-op that connects health-conscious consumers in Harlem with local produce growers. By offering more vegetables, the team believes that they can combat diseases that afflict residents of low-income communities.
Remember2Read will promote early literacy among young black boys through an app that encourages parents to engage in family reading schedules. The service would also be aligned with the reading
Holiday project’s Barbershop Books program. By doing so, its designers believe they can make a dent in an education crisis: Studies show 80% of black boys in 4th grade are not proficient in reading at that level.
Next: Team Grantour made its pitch by maintaining that it could drive greater economic development in black communities through an app that will help businesses and organizations identify the rights grants and assist them with the application process.
Roughly 26% of all students who applied to college worked with an independent college counselor and are forced to pay steep fees. Solution: Cheap Counselor would create an online advisory matching service that connects college counselors with students in need. Moreover, the service would make micro-scholarships available based on academic achievement in high school.
Too many minority students fail to complete college because they don’t have the funding for a semester or two. Team Saving Circle has developed app that enable students to tap the collective financial resources of friends and family members to access funds for such items as tuition, books and lab fees through a crowdfunding model.
Google’s King, one of the judges, commends team members on their outstanding work. He also share his impressions of the last team Ohana, which created an app to match children from single-parent households with mentors who could serve as either a father or mother figure depending on the circumstance.
The judges give their assessment of the product demos, business models and presentations of all eight teams which demonstrated considerable analysis and creativity in addressing major societal problems by applying viable tech solutions.
Before unveiling the winner, I encourage all the teams to enter the Elevator Pitch Competition that will be held at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit in Atlanta from May 13 -16. I tell them that they should take a shot at gaining $10,000 in funding and free consultation from a business expert to help their venture take flight.
The winners are:
1. Avis Atkins (red top) and Alim Williams of Saving Circle (pictured in the center)
2. Terence Agbi of Cheap Counselor (far right, dressed in gray t-shirt and jeans)
3. Mekonah Myers, Omri Faroul, Ernest J. Pierre and Terrel Cudjoe of Munch (all positioned far right or seated)
Student Dream’s Ugwuomo — a speaker at the BE Smart session on the impact of tech and mentorship at the Black Enterprise women of Power Summit —  encourages all participants who sought to “make history in 24 hours†to pursue their projects as a means of uplifting communities of color. I, along with my fellow judges and hackathon participants, couldn’t have agreed more with her charge for tech-driven 21st Century activism.