Mobilize your community
Would you like to spark innovation in your community? Do you want to bring people together to tackle some of the challenges your community faces?
Organize an UNLEASH Hack! The program is designed to help young changemakers develop innovative ideas that create a real, positive impact in their local communities while gaining relevant skills and knowledge to address sustainability challenges.
Read more below and apply.
How does the process of organizing a Hack look like?
UNLEASH Hacks are hosted by an Organizing Team, which can consist of UNLEASH Alumni and non-Alumni. It is recommended that at least one member has prior UNLEASH experience.
Read about becoming an Organizer on the UNLEASH Innovation Hub to get a sense of the requirements.
Complete a Hack Concept Submission within the application process.
Mobilize your community and bring your Hack to life!
One team member initiates the UNLEASH Hacks Organizing Team Journey, an application process that is accessible on the Innovation Hub.
Formalize your engagement with UNLEASH by signing an MoU once your concept is approved by UNLEASH.
Complete the UNLEASH Hacks Organizing Team Journey by sharing a reporting with UNLEASH about the outcomes of your Hack.
Read about becoming an Organizer on the UNLEASH Innovation Hub to get a sense of the requirements.
One team member initiates the UNLEASH Hacks Organizing Team Journey, an application process that is accessible on the Innovation Hub.
Complete a Hack Concept Submission within the application process.
Formalize your engagement with UNLEASH by signing an MoU once your concept is approved by UNLEASH.
Mobilize your community and bring your Hack to life!
Complete the UNLEASH Hacks Organizing Team Journey by sharing a reporting with UNLEASH about the outcomes of your Hack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Program Information
UNLEASH Hacks are two-days localized, scalable, and cost-efficient innovation processes designed to address sustainability challenges in specific contexts around the world. During an UNLEASH Hack, participants work in teams to develop innovative ideas that can create a real positive impact in their local communities while gaining relevant skills and knowledge on how to address sustainability challenges of the future.
Any UNLEASH Alumni who have participated in previous UNLEASH Innovation Labs, UNLEASH Hacks, or previously organized a Hack, are eligible to become Hack Organizers.
Hosting an UNLEASH Hack is a considerable undertaking and we discourage a single individual taking it on. We recommend teaming up with other UNLEASH Alumni or people from your personal or professional network to put together an Organizing Team.
An Organizing Team is a group of ideally 4-6 individuals with varied experiences and skills who come together to plan and execute an UNLEASH Hack.
Organizing Teams can consist of both UNLEASH Alumni and individuals without previous UNLEASH engagement. However, we require that at least one member of the team is an UNLEASH Alumnus.
If you’re not an UNLEASH Alumni, reach out to any UNLEASH Alumni in your region who can support or connect you to other members of our community.
By leveraging the digital resources and support provided by UNLEASH, it may take 2 to 3 months to plan an UNLEASH Hack.
You may focus your UNLEASH Hack within any of the wide range of themes that are covered by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Because of the sprint-like nature of UNLEASH Hacks, we recommend that themes be few, specific, and relevant to a particular local context.
Once you begin the journey to become an Organizer, more guidance is provided to help your team frame specific challenges within a theme.
UNLEASH Hacks can be run online, in-person, or in a hybrid format where some participants connect online to an in-person venue.
In our experience, in-person Hacks offer the best experience for all participants. However, we do not discourage other Hack formats because we understand each local context has its own possibilities and challenges.
Yes. However, the UNLEASH Methodology and other guidance material are presented in English. You are welcome to host a Hack in a language other than English. However, is the OT’s responsibility to ensure that the Hack’s resources are linguistically accessible to participants.
Absolutely! The Innovation Methodology behind UNLEASH Hacks is the perfect way to inspire your team to think creatively and approach an organizational challenge from a user-centric perspective. However, the standard Intellectual Property shared with Organizing Teams does not allow them to use the UNLEASH Methodology for commercial purposes, which includes restricting UNLEASH Hack participants to being from within one specific organization, or charging a participation fee to any participant.
UNLEASH Innovation Labs and UNLEASH Hacks are similar, in that they both drive innovation for solving sustainability challenges, upskill participants with human-centered design-thinking tools, and build a community of passionate individuals.
They differ in the following.
- Duration: Hacks take place over 2 days, whereas Innovation Labs run over 5 to 7 days.
- Scope: Hacks focus on a specific challenge faced by local communities, whereas Innovation Labs can address multiple themes.
- Scale: Hacks typically have between 30-60 Talents, whereas Innovation Labs can gather 200-1000 Talents.
- Content: Hacks focus only the first two stages of the UNLEASH Innovation Methodology: Problem Framing and Ideating, due to the sprint-like two-day framework.
- Leadership: Hacks are completely often run by Organizing Teams comprising UNLEASH Alumni and people from their network. OTs decide the time, location, and theme, and run all processes linked to sourcing Talents, Facilitators, and securing partnerships for the Hack. The OT may also be the UNLEASH Secretariat, partnering with an organization to host an UNLEASH Hack.
Become an Organizer
To apply, your team must complete an application through the designated platform. As part of the process, you will review guidance resources including workshop videos and/or slides, and instructional text. These will guide you to building your Hack’s concept.
No. Only one application per team is needed. The application platform allows multiple team members to collaborate on the same application, though one team member is responsible for initiating the application and making the final submission.
As part of the application, you will be asked questions related to the ‘Build-Your-Hack’ Workshop series. These help you to understand the expectations and responsibilities involved in organizing a Hack.
You will also be asked to provide details about your proposed Hack concept, including a description of the Hack, its thematic focus, envisioned dates, number of participants, etc.
You will also be asked to provide personal information about yourself and your team, including information about any previous UNLEASH experience. This information is relevant for onboarding to the Organizer experience and connection to the global UNLEASH Community through the Innovation Hub.
After submitting your application, you should not modify it while it is under review. However, applications that require updates after review maybe modified based on feedback provided by UNLEASH.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis by UNLEASH Secretariat once every month. Applicants (aspiring Organizing Teams) will be notified at the start of the next month from when they finalize their application.
In principle, all applications will eventually become successful. UNLEASH aims to approve all applications so long as they respond to all requirements. This approval may be a first outcome after a submission, or a second outcome after a reviewed application has been updated by the aspiring OT based on feedback from UNLEASH.
Formalized OTs will get access to an extensive Toolkit with resources and materials to plan and execute the Hack.
Additionally, OTs may be eligible to receive a micro-grant from UNLEASH to support the costs-to-execution of their Hack. Requests for financial support are submitted as part of the application process. Funding is typically provided as a reimbursement for actual expenses after the Hack, and up to a pre-approved grant amount.
Decisions made on a rolling basis and based on outstanding funds available per geographic region.
No. Requests for financial support must be made at the time of the application.
No. All applications are considered equally regardless of whether financial support is requested. However, due to limited funds, UNLEASH not be able fulfill all financial support requests.
Solutions from Previous Hacks
“Every year, 931 million tons of food go to waste around the world. Food Helper is an AI-powered mobile application that helps reduce food waste at the household level by helping users manage their food items.”
– Chi-Hong Cheung,
UNLEASH Hack 2021
China
“Reading bites is an innovation to encourage reading culture among children and young people and offer ways for implementing reading into daily activities at home and in schools.”
– Efe Wealth Ewemade,
UNLEASH Hack, 2021
Ghana
“Eco-check is a digital platform where you can track your sustainable tourism practices and – depending on how well you do – be rewarded with advantages, encouraging you to keep on traveling responsibly. “
– Samantha Villarreal Cavazos,
UNLEASH Hack, 2021
Mexico
“During the Hack, I got to collaborate with global talents around the world. I made really meaningful connections, including the co-founders for our project #SoutLout, an interactive story game that offers a playful way for approaching sex education.”
– Heeba Anis,
UNLEASH Hack, 2021
Morocco
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