Nadia Gathers is the development and communications assistant at CODE2040, which recently held a hackathon in Miami to help increase opportunity for people of color in the tech industry. Knight supported the hackathon. CODE2040 was also a winner of the Knight News Challenge on strengthening the Internet. Photos are courtesy HACK2040 Miami.

At CODE2040, our events give us insight into the diverse populations we serve on a daily basis. Over the last four years, we’ve been fortunate enough to spark relationships with students, entrepreneurs and other interested people in communities around the United States. The most recent of these transformative events was last weekend’s HACK2040 in Miami.

HACK2040 is a hackathon powered by the CODE2040 community, bringing black and Latino/a students from local colleges and coding boot camps together. Teams use 24 hours to come up with ways to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the tech industry. As passionate changemakers, we revel in the chance to watch technologists of the present and future work together to help us change the face of tech in the next 25 years.

Miami’s diverse and vibrant community served as the backdrop to what was an incredibly insightful weekend. While technological solutions to diversity are often created with grand scale in mind, we are influenced by the hyperlocal culture of every city we visit. Miami’s strong Latino/a presence excited us, and the effect that its communities of color have had on its development will inspire our vision as we expand. A number of community organizations, including CODeLLA, Iron Hack, Tech Miami, Refresh Miami, The Idea Center at Miami Dade College, Alpis, Get Wit It, Black Tech Week and Code Fever, are doing connective and informative work in the tech and entrepreneurship spaces. Representatives from each had the opportunity to share what they are doing in the community. This event served as an opportunity for participants from many organizations to come together, break bread and explore the ways they can support each other.

In 24 hours, students created and pitched amazing tools inspired by their own experiences. Groups built applications that scanned financial markets for arbitrage opportunities, built platforms that organized local coding leagues for high school students, and created services that connected non-traditional job seekers with employers. Afterwards, students were given the opportunity to network with local organizations to lay out plans for the continuation of their projects.

More than anything, we host these events to empower and connect community members–especially students. We strongly believe that our country will be stronger if talent from all backgrounds is included in the creation of the companies, programs and products of tomorrow. Over the course of HACK2040 weekends, we are humbled to watch the creation of tools that build bridges for marginalized communities, including applications that facilitate mentorship, career guidance and belongingness. Our students are the reason our CODE2040 family does the work we do. We’re excited to see what they can do next.

If you couldn’t make it to the hack this weekend, you can find photos from the event on our Facebook page. Learn more about CODE2040 at code2040.org.