Hey, this weekend I am participating in “Change4Future” hackathon as a mentor https://changemakerson.com/change4future/hackathon/
This year the hackathon of social business program “Change4Future” is traveling to virtual space. On 12-14th of June more than 30 selected teams will meet who already are waiting to start the development of their social business.
With their proposed idea, each team is committed to making a difference in one of the areas of sustainable development: from health and education to human rights and the environment. In the beginning of their social business they need experts’ help to take stronger steps. The main goal of mentors / experts is to help for "Change4Future" participants to mature their business ideas and make it sustainable social business models.
I hope so we will have fruitful work with teams:)
What are your experiences from hackathons? what you as a social entepreneur expect from mentors in hackathons?

Hi, I really love the conversation, maybe my sharing here about the Hackason we had in Uganda specifically Rwamwanja and Kenya kakuma refugee camp. the goal of the hackathon was to identify solutions specifically from refugees for refugees, train refugees on entrepreneurial skills, and change the mindset from hopelessness to being able to get active and do something to fight the crisis. In total, we managed to engage 23 participants and 28 in Kenya/Kakuma camp that came up with different ideas to tackle the crisis. in this, I will talk bout our experience and challenges after the journey we did, however, the less financially we were at 150$ but we really made it successfully in both the 2countries. Being the first time we did an online program it was so challenging when it comes to online mentoring all the process, connecting scholars with mentors and trainers was not an easier thing you can imagine, mostly when it comes to refugees, they have not accessed devices, communication, internet connectivity. some of them could have a help maybe borrowing a device from a friend or relative but they were not really able to operating, using like ZOOM, we changed to Facebook workspace until we start using mobile calls with participants using different sim card like MTN, AIRTEL, Africell, etc.. and again in deferent countries. As you know a challenge is a great opportunity and learning for social entrepreneurs, in this journey we were able to learn that everything is possible as long as we commute ourselves to take risks and learn from the experience on the way. we can be able to improve, do impact, and make the world a better place for everyone once we have decided to do something new, move out of comfort. Looking forward to sharing more !!
That's what happens when a team gets a SEIP mentor :)
The great news - my mentored team MeowBest got ticket to the accelerator and won 7000 eur prize to buy equipement 😊 They selected 12 teams from 36 which are going to accelerator :))
@aurmana excited to hear about the results! Mentors plays a huge role in mediation and can extend a conversation with educated questions to consider in a Hackathon! P.S. Love your gif. It’s one of my favorite shows :-)
All the three projects sound very good. :) Good luck with the second day!
The first day of the hackathon came to the end. It was really great, but also challenging because of this technological adaptation process (I needed to find out how to use google meet program and how to find meeting rooms:)). Today I have met with 3 different teams. One was a community social business we were discussing their legal status and social business model; the second one was a sport club for the families with children, we were trying to find out how to convert their business model to social business, Also I started to mentoring one amazing team which sells ecological cats' litter and trying to employ disabled people. I chose to mentor them because I really believe in their idea and they have a great product. I think this factor is the most important (when you mentoring someone or want to become part of the team) - you really need to believe in the idea and see the potential in this. With my team we found what we really need to improve (I won't tell you, it's a secret:). So we will work on that on these few other days. I can't wait to see what the next day of hack will bring to me.