Dates

[August 28th–30th, 2026] 3-day hackathon at Hacker Dojo

 

  • Day 1: Veteran open mic, innovation pitch session, team formation, evening kickoff into build
  • Day 2: Full-day collaborative build session with veteran advisors and mentors
  • Day 3: Final build time, 6:45 PM submission deadline, 7:00 PM live team demos (5 min/team), judging and deliberation, winner announcement, community celebration until 9:00 PM

Eligibility

  • Open to veterans, engineers, designers, nonprofit leaders, community builders, and anyone interested in building solutions for the veteran community; no prior hackathon or coding experience required
  • Teams may consist of [1–10] members; solo participants are welcome and can form teams during Day 1 team formation
  • Veterans participating as advisors, storytellers, or collaborators are strongly encouraged to join teams, though they are not required to code or build
  • Participants must be present for the required portions of the event, including team formation on Day 1 and the final demo/judging session on Day 3

 

  • All work must be substantially created during the hackathon (see Project and Submission Requirements below for details on pre-existing code/tools)

Project and Submission Requirements


Projects should tackle a real barrier veterans face when trying to access support, finding the right resource, understanding a confusing process, completing paperwork, or connecting with the right person. Solutions should be directly informed by veteran stories and insights shared during the event. Any format is welcome (web app, mobile app, chatbot, SMS tool, dashboard, service redesign, etc.) as long as it's a genuine attempt to solve a problem a veteran described.

What to Submit (via Devpost by 6:45 PM Day 3):

 

  1. Project title and tagline
  2. Full project description (challenge addressed, how the solution works, role of veteran input, path forward)
  3. Demo video (2–3 minutes)
  4. Public code repository with README
  5. Live prototype or demo link (if applicable)
  6. Team info, including which veteran(s) the team collaborated with
  7. Presentation slides (optional, recommended for the live demo)

Build Rules:

 

  • Projects must be started and substantially built during the hackathon; use of open-source libraries, APIs, no-code tools, and starter templates is permitted
  • Incomplete or late submissions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by organizers to determine judging eligibility
  • Each team presents live for 5 minutes on Day 3

Prizes

TBD

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Veteran Impact — 30%

Grounding in Veteran Collaboration — 20%

Execution & Functionality — 20%

Usability & Accessibility — 15%

Potential to Continue Growing — 10%

Presentation — 5%

Each criterion is scored on a 1–5 scale by each judge. Scores are weighted and totaled across all judges to determine rankings. In the event of a tie, judges will deliberate and vote to reach a final decision. Winners are announced live following judge deliberation on Day 3, prior to the community celebration.