Welcome to the Hackathon for Social Good 2025!

The Cal Poly Humboldt Hackathon for Social Good is a student-led event dedicated to creating impactful, technology-driven solutions that benefit local nonprofit organizations. Hosted by the Computer Science Club at Cal Poly Humboldt, this hackathon brings together students from Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods to collaborate, innovate, and develop real-world applications that address social and environmental challenges in our community.

This is more than just a coding competition—it's an opportunity to apply your technical skills to meaningful projects, gain hands-on experience, and connect with industry professionals and like-minded peers. Whether you're an experienced coder or just starting out, this hackathon provides an inclusive and supportive environment to learn, gain advice from experienced mentors, grow, and make a difference.

• Dates: March 8-9, 2025

• Location: Cal Poly Humboldt Campus

• Theme: Tech for Social Good—partnering with local nonprofits to solve real-world problems

Learn more at our website: Hackathon for Social Good 2025

Join us for a weekend of creativity, collaboration, and coding for a cause! 

About the challenge

Humboldt County is home to many grassroots nonprofit organizations working tirelessly to support local causes. These nonprofits often lack the technical resources to maximize their impact, and that’s where you come in! This hackathon challenges students to develop innovative tech solutions that address real challenges faced by these organizations—whether it's improving data management, enhancing outreach efforts, or developing digital tools that streamline operations.

By working closely with local nonprofits, you’ll gain insight into their challenges and apply your problem-solving skills to build practical, impactful solutions that have the potential for real-world implementation.

Event Schedule

Kickoff  (Friday, March 7th, 6:00 PM) – Mandatory for all participants

Join us at this welcome night & event overview! This is when you will get an introduction to problem statements and participating organizations, ensure your teams are finalized and come up with a team name, learn the Hackathon rules and judging criteria, and participate in Q&A.

Competition

• Saturday, March 8th [8 AM – 10 PM] →  Check-in, welcome & breakfast, begin working as a team, aided by industry mentors, to prototype and create powerful projects that help local nonprofits

• Virtual Work [10PM-12AM] → If teams choose, team members can finalize their ideas/work from Day 1 at home but ONLY UNTIL 12 AM

• Overnight break [12 AM - 8 AM*] → Rest and recharge - no coding of projects may be worked on during this time (HOWEVER you are allowed to brainstorm ideas for your projects to bring in the next day). *Note: Sunday, 3/9 is daylight savings time so 1 hour will be lost

• Sunday, March 9th [8 AM – 7 PM] → Final coding sprint, project submission, presentations, and prizes!

Final Presentations & Awards Ceremony (Sunday, March 9th, 4:00 PM)

All coding stops and teams will present their videos/projects to a panel of judges. Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 teams!

• 2025 Hackathon for Social Good Criteria
  Please view this year's judging criteria here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bTEMoN00oViI6upCpfneE6z1E-dueLWN/view?usp=sharing