A 3-day hackathon at Hacker Dojo bringing together veterans, engineers, designers, nonprofit leaders, and community builders to co-create solutions to challenges faced by the veteran community.

The Challenge

What was the hardest part about coming home as a veteran?

For many veterans, the challenge does not end when they leave the service. It begins when they try to navigate the systems designed to support them.

Too often, veterans face:

  • Confusing websites and complicated processes

  • Long application forms

  • Unclear pathways to finding the right resources

  • Waiting weeks or months for support when they need it most

When a veteran needs help, accessing support should not feel like another battle.

The goal of this hackathon is to explore solutions that make getting support as simple and accessible as possible. We believe veterans should be able to communicate what they need and quickly connect with the right resources, organizations, and people who can help.

Listen First. Then Build.

This hackathon is built around a simple principle:

Listen first, then build.

Veterans will share their lived experiences, challenges, and ideas directly with builders. Engineers, designers, and innovators will then collaborate with veterans to transform those insights into working prototypes over the course of the weekend.

The goal is not just to create a project for a weekend. The goal is to build ideas that can continue growing into real tools, services, and solutions that improve the lives of veterans.

3-Day Agenda Day 1 — Listen, Pitch, Form Teams

Understanding the problem and finding opportunities

  • Veteran open mic sharing real challenges and lived experiences

  • Innovation pitch session inspired by veteran stories

  • Team formation and collaboration kickoff

  • Evening kickoff into hackathon build begins

Day 2 — Build With Veterans

Turning ideas into solutions

  • Full-day collaborative building session

  • Veterans actively engage with teams as advisors and co-designers

  • Mentorship, iteration, and prototyping

  • Evening continued development and refinement

Day 3 — Demo & Celebrate

Showcasing solutions and creating momentum

  • Final build and project preparation

  • 6:45 PM submission deadline

  • 7:00 PM team demos begin (5-minute presentations per team)

  • Judges deliberate and evaluate solutions

  • Winner announcement and awards

  • Community celebration continues until 9:00 PM

Join us in bringing together veterans and innovators to build a future where accessing support is faster, easier, and centered around the people who need it most.

Requirements

What to Build

Projects should tackle a real barrier veterans face when trying to access support, whether that's finding the right resource, understanding a confusing process, completing paperwork, or simply knowing who to talk to. Solutions should come directly out of the stories and insights veterans share during the Day 1 open mic and throughout the weekend.

 

We're intentionally open on formats. A "solution" could be a web app, mobile app, chatbot, browser extension, voice assistant, SMS/text-based tool, internal dashboard for case workers, or even a well-designed service/process redesign paired with a working prototype. What matters is that it's a genuine attempt to solve a problem a veteran described, not just a cool piece of tech.

Some directions to consider (not prescriptive — let veteran conversations guide you):

 

  • Navigation & discovery — Tools that help veterans quickly find the right benefit, program, or organization for their specific situation, instead of searching through dozens of websites
  • Simplifying paperwork — Solutions that shorten, auto-fill, translate into plain language, or guide veterans step-by-step through complicated applications and forms
  • Faster connections to people — Tools that connect veterans directly with the right case worker, mentor, peer, or organization, reducing wait times for support
  • Clarity & status tracking — Ways for veterans to understand where they are in a process (e.g., a claim or application) instead of waiting in the dark
  • Community & peer support — Platforms that connect veterans to each other or to local community resources, not just institutions
  • Tools for the helpers — Solutions built for caseworkers, nonprofit staff, or volunteers who support veterans, making it easier for them to do their jobs well

Scope guidance:

 

  • You have roughly a day and a half of build time. Aim for a focused prototype that clearly demonstrates one idea well, not a sprawling platform
  • It's OK if parts are mocked, simulated, or hardcoded for the demo. Judges care whether the concept is validated by veteran input and clearly demoed, not whether every backend is production-ready
  • Projects should be able to explain, in the demo, which veteran story or piece of feedback shaped the idea

The strongest projects will be the ones that could believably keep growing after the weekend into something a veteran would actually want to use.

What to Submit

By the 6:45 PM deadline on Day 3, each team must submit the following on Devpost:

1. Project Title & Tagline
A short name and one-sentence summary of what your project does.

2. Project Description
Tell the story of your project, including:

  • The veteran challenge you're solving, and what inspired it (a story, quote, or insight from Day 1 or your veteran collaborators)
  • How your solution works
  • What role veteran input played in shaping your idea and design decisions
  • What's next — how this could grow beyond the hackathon

3. Demo Video
A short video (2–3 minutes) showing your project in action. This helps judges who weren't able to see your live demo and gives your project a life after the event.

4. Public Code Repository
A link to your GitHub (or equivalent) repo with a README that explains:

  • What the project does
  • Tech stack used
  • What's fully functional vs. mocked/simulated for the demo
  • Setup/run instructions (if applicable)

5. Live Prototype or Demo Link (if applicable)
A working link to your app, site, or prototype — e.g., a deployed app, Figma file, or clickable mockup.

6. Team Info
List all team members, their roles/contributions, and which veteran(s) you collaborated with during the weekend.

7. Presentation Slides (optional but recommended)
A few slides to support your 5-minute live demo on Day 3.

Reminders:

 

  • Submissions lock at 6:45 PM sharp. Build in time to finish your Devpost page, not just your code
  • Each team presents live for 5 minutes starting at 7:00 PM
  • Incomplete or late submissions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by organizers to determine judging eligibility

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$1,000 in prizes
First Place
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Qi Diaz

Qi Diaz
Hacker Dojo

Judging Criteria

  • Veteran Impact — 30%
    Does the project solve a real, specific problem veterans actually face? Judges look for a clear link between the solution and a genuine pain point, not an assumed need.
  • Grounding in Veteran Collaboration — 20%
    Did the team meaningfully incorporate veteran input throughout the weekend? Judges look for specific examples of feedback that shaped or redirected the project.
  • Execution & Functionality — 20%
    Does the prototype work, and how well does it demonstrate the core idea? Judges assess whether it's a believable, functioning demo given the build window.
  • Usability & Accessibility — 15%
    Is the solution simple and easy to use? Judges consider whether a veteran with no technical background could navigate it without help
  • Potential to Continue Growing — 10%
    Is there a credible path for this to become a real tool after the hackathon? Judges look for a realistic sense of next steps or future development.
  • Presentation (5-Minute Demo) — 5%
    Is the pitch clear and effective in 5 minutes? Judges assess whether the team communicates the problem, solution, and veteran story concisely.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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