HackerNest is a

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

and global movement founded on January 11, 2011. The organization unites local technology communities around the world through community events and socially beneficial

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of '' hacking'' and ''marathon'') is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 h ...

s to further its mission of economic development through technological proliferation. It is Canada's largest, most prolific technology community with growing international reach.

Background

HackerNest was founded on the belief that the fastest, most permanent way to improve the world is to build supportive local technology and innovation communities characterized by trust, sharing, and respect. The rationale is that the technology community is the cornerstone of economic development enabling collaboration, innovation, knowledge-sharing, recruiting, and scientific progress. Growing and strengthening the community lets businesses hire better, perform better, and create more jobs, which ultimately increases economic prosperity. The organization's ideology is rooted in the idea that minor tweaks at the start of a process in a dynamic system can have a major impact on the result. . HackerNest "splinter cells" (chapters) regularly host "Tech Socials" open to anyone interested in technology. The events vary slightly by city, but maintain the same core tenets: all are friendly and down-to-earth. The first Tech Social was held in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on Monday, January 31, 2011. HackerNest Toronto is currently the world's largest

Meetup Meetup, headquartered in New York City, is a social media platform and social networking service for hosting and organizing in-person and virtual activities, gatherings, and events for people and communities of similar interests, hobbies, and pro ...

group for programmers and Canada's largest technologist community. As of July 2017, HackerNest splinter cells have run over 550+ events in 34 cities across 14 countries on 5 continents.

Activities

In 2014, HackerNest produced Construct, Canada's largest hardware hackathon and DementiaHack for the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, the world's first hackathon dedicated to helping people with dementia and their caregivers. In 2015, the organization produced

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

's first internal innovation hackathon as well as DementiaHack

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

as lead sponsor and support from the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, the

Public Health Agency of Canada The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC; ) is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic disease control and prevention. History The PHAC was f ...

, and the Ontario

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care The Ministry of Health is the Government of Ontario ministry responsible for administering the health care system in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ministry is responsible to the Ontario Legislature through the minister of health, pr ...

. In 2016, HackerNest produced CourtHack with the

National Center for State Courts The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is an independent, non-profit organization focused on improving the administration of justice in the United States and around the world. Its efforts are directed by a 27-member board of directors and th ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

at t ) and the Hack4Equality> LGBTQ hackathon with

Grindr Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application for gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender people. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the large ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

which heavily featured

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Promise Zone and Opportunity Project data.

Awards

* Boryana Damnyanova Award for Corporate and Social Responsibility -

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

* Contributions to the technology community -

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...

* Finalist - Canadian Global Impact Competition

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://hackernest.com
GOV.UK British High Commission Ottawa

Betakit

HackerNest Toronto Splinter Cell
International non-profit organizations Social movements in Canada Technology organizations Software development events Hackathons Non-profit organizations based in Toronto