2025-2026 Tech for Change Hackathon

Overview

In 2026, Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) is requesting proposals to host PITathons. PIT-UN is prioritizing proposals that bring a genuinely new approach to community-centered tech design. We are not accepting iterations of past models the animating question is not “What can students build?” but “What does this community need, and how can students help build it?.”

PIT-UN anticipates supporting several Tech for Change Hackathons across PIT-UN. We are particularly interested in projects that do not replicate existing or previously funded Tech for Change Hackathons or well-established traditional hackathons but offer a new approach or lens for accelerating or innovating the development or use of public interest technology. PITathons are distinguished from standard hackathons by four core commitments:

• Community Authorship where community members shape the challenge from the start and remain engaged throughout, not just at opening and closing ceremonies. 
• Equity as the Design Standard where tracks, prompts, and judging criteria are built around justice outcomes and how does the event structure teach students to build with communities rather than for them.
• Student Growth through Service by putting students in genuine relationships with community challenges. Students from both technical and non-technical disciplines should leave with deeper civic commitments, not just stronger portfolios.
• Sustained Impact where intentionality is built into measuring impact on a longer time frame while the institution remains accountable to the community partners it engaged for the PITathon.

PIT-UN will not fund PITathons that: 

• Replicate a previous Tech for Change Hackathon model without a substantive new approach.
• Treat community engagement as outreach rather than co-authorship. 
• Fail to compensate community partners. 
• Center student portfolio development or employer recruitment as primary outcomes.  
• Propose technology solutions to problems that are primarily political, relational, or structural without an honest reckoning with that distinction. 
• Collect community data without explicit consent and community-controlled governance.

PIT-UN anticipates supporting several PITathons across United States based on PIT-UN member institutions and PIT-UN--identified regions (New England, New York, Midwest, and West). Proposals that are a partnership between two or more universities should submit a single application from the lead institution. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of a PITathon, groups seeking an award should partner with an active PIT-UN member institution or region since funding can be awarded to only one hosting institution. Proposals should explain the nature of the alliance, including the division of labor, subgrant agreements, and distribution of funds.

Award: PIT-UN is inviting proposals for PITathon events where grant funding is capped between $15,000 and $18,000 total costs (indirect costs are capped at 20%). Proposals for funding must include all revenue and expenses associated with an institution hosting the PITathon and cannot supplant existing funding for similar events.