Hacking4Humanity

H4H 2025 - A Hybrid Tech and Policy Hackathon

January 24 - February 7, 2025

Online hate is on the rise, leading to real-world devastating effects on individuals and communities around the world. Hacking4Humanity (H4H) is a tech and policy hackathon that offers students a new way to engage with real-world social problems that can be improved with novel technical and policy solutions. Any undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at a college or university in the Pittsburgh region can participate! Students compete in teams of 1-4 people in either the Tech track or the Policy track - multiple cash prizes will be awarded in both tracks!

This year's hackathon took place January 24- February 7, 2025. H4H began with a Zoom Kickoff on Friday, January 24, and final Tech and Policy presentations were held at Duquesne University on Friday, February 7.

Additionally, H4H 2025 finalists and organizers were invited to participate in a mini-hackathon competition at the PA Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg on March 21. This is the second year in a row that H4H teams traveled to the state capital to present their policy and tech solutions for countering online hate to a panel of expert judges, including First Lady Lori Shapiro and other members of the Governor’s administration. Many thanks to First Lady Shapiro for hosting H4H, to the panel of judges who took the time to engage with our finalists' presentations, and to everyone who welcomed H4H so graciously to the Residence!

Congratulations to this year's winners!

Policy Track First Place: Facilo - Andre Washington and Daniel Terrero, Duquesne University, "Complementary Policy to COPPA: Promoting Restorative Justice in Gaming Platforms"

Policy Track Honorable Mention: Green Eggs and Hamlet - Ruby Scupp, Josephine Cantelmo, and Piper Narendorf, University of Pittsburgh, "Community Journalism Initiative to Address Information Deserts"

Tech Track First Place: Parakeet Clouds - Sarah Cross, Carnegie Mellon University, Makayla Chang, University of Pittsburgh, and Sal DeFilippo, Duquesne University, "Parakeet Cloud: Your Content, Your Mind, Take Control"

Tech Track Honorable Mention: Team BarnieDinosaur - Shin Young Kang and Ansel Gunther, University of Pittsburgh, "!factbot"

Tech Track Honorable Mention: The Code Breakers - William V. Fullerton, Robert Morris University, Remy Sedlak, University of Pittsburgh, and Devon Smith, University of Pittsburgh, "The Inquisitor"

Watch the Livestream Recordings:

BALLROOM B LIVESTREAM

BALLROOM C LIVESTREAM

H4H 2025 Judges

Chad Heitzenreiter, Senior Information Scientist, RAND
Annie Latsko, Senior Software Engineer, Microsoft
Eleanor Mattern, Director, Sara Fine Institute, University of Pittsburgh
Sadie Smiles, Digital Services Director, Governor's Office of Digital Strategy

H4H 2025 Advisors

Jacob Beeders, Senior Research Specialist (PA State Lead), Bridging Divides Initiative, Princeton University
Cavwell Edwards, Diverse Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor of Computer Information Technology, Community College of Allegheny County
Jessica L. Ghilani, Pitt Cyber Affiliate Scholar, Associate Professor of Communication,  Pitt-Greensburg
Rachael Miller Neilan, Professor, Mathematics, Duquesne University
Eric Schulte, Software Engineer, Engineering Productivity, Google
Elise Silva, Director of Policy Research, Pitt Cyber
Jason Westman, Director of IT and Project Management Office, FedEx
Michael Yoder, Teaching Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh