UNLEASH

350 talents and facilitators hacked for Covid-19 and 31 new solutions came out of it

Over the weekend, from March 28-29, 350 UNLEASH alumni and experts were involved in the first UNLEASH Hacks. The hacks are global digital hackathons designed to collectively address some of the challenges humanity is facing due to the spread and effect of the Covid-19 virus.

Over 70 countries were part of the first UNLEASH Hacks. Organized by the UNLEASH Secretariat and  UNLEASH Alumni, passionate talents in six different time zones, had the opportunity to work together in addressing challenges linked to the current global pandemic affecting societies, communities and economies.

 

On Sunday, the teams presented their solution ideas via a live stream. Solutions ranged from how to deal with poor mental health in times of social isolation, fighting fake news circulating around Covid-19, to delivery systems for vulnerable people,

A total of 31 solutions were developed over the weekend, and now the teams are looking for funding, expertise, partners or help with advocacy work. UNLEASH is will be working to connect teams with relevant partners and support the different needs of the groups as they move forward.

UNLEASH Lead Scale Partner, Chemonics International where also part of the Hack. The organizing team of the hack in GMT-4 consisted of Chemonics employees who had previously participated in UNLEASH.

“The Chemonics International Organizing Team had an incredible experience supporting our five teams’ journey from insight to prototype in just two intensive days. With the help of a phenomenal group of facilitators and a range of experts in our time zone, the groups developed impressive solutions to issues like access to care for vulnerable populations and economic resiliency for individuals and small businesses.” said Lauren Behr, Director of Innovation at Scale at Chemonics International.

The hack also had participants from Lead Innovation Partner, Deloitte who had both talents and facilitators join in three different time zones.

All solutions can be found here and the live presentation can be found on the UNLEASH Facebook page.

If you are interested in helping these teams implement their solutions, feel free to reach out directly. If you have questions around the Hacks, please write secretariat@unleash.org.