This event is made possible through the generous financial support of Foley & Lardner LLP.
In the spirit of social innovation, Georgetown Entrepreneurship is proud to offer a one-day virtual hackathon-style event centered around mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on our work, learning, and communities, With the support of an experienced facilitator, an exciting keynote speaker, and a team of knowledgeable mentors, student teams will work to craft market-based solutions under three key areas:
COVID-19 +
Vulnerable Communities
COVID-19 +
(Un)Employment
COVID-19 +
Education
Form teams around ideas to tackle these challenges and spend the day collaborating to research problems, brainstorm solutions, and troubleshoot their concepts. The event will culminate in a pitch competition where you’ll present their work to a panel of esteemed judges and compete for thousands of dollars in cash and in-kind prizes. Students may either choose to submit a problem around which they’d like to form a team after they register OR they may wait until the week before the Design Challenge to join a team. Both options will be provided by email to registered students.
Key Dates and Schedule
Last Day to Submit Problem: Sunday, September 20 at 11:59pm
Last Day to Submit Team Preferences: Friday, September 25 at 5:00pm
8:00am – 8:30am: Check-in time
8:30am – 11:00am: Kickoff
11:00am – 12:30pm: Team Check-In and Begin Work
12:30pm – 1:15pm: Lunch Break
3:00 – 3:30pm: Tech Check
Check out some of our exciting mentors and judges!
Our Focus Areas
Covid-19 + Vulnerable Communities
The impact of the pandemic has been particularly harsh on members of vulnerable communities. BIPOC, elderly people, and the immunocompromised who experience triple the levels of contraction and double the death rates of white Americans. Where public sector inaction has largely refused to address this growing health disparity, market-based solutions may be able to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic on these populations. Consider developing tools to decrease transmission, stay informed, feel better, and help adapt to life in our “new normal.”
__________
COVID-19 + (Un)Employment
We may be on the precipice of another Great Depression: With unemployment levels reaching record highs, businesses going under every week, and the government floundering in their response, the need for tools to address this crisis is more critical than ever. At the same time, the future of work has arrived—and it is digital. Companies the world over are quickly adapting to the new realities of telework and are hungry for solutions to the problems remote work presents. For this topic, consider how to assist those facing unemployment, how to help companies source new talent, how teams can adapt to remote work, and how businesses can grow and thrive in this new economy.
__________
COVID-19 + Education
It is evident that even after the COVID-19 crisis, education will never be the same. The pandemic has caused schools of all kinds to experiment with new paradigms in distance learning to varying degrees of success. How we learn and how we teach are inexorably changed and only the most nimble, daring organizations willing to try novel approaches will come out on top. Consider how students can better engage with their teacher and peers in a remote environment, how institutions can better adapt to a majority of students at a distance, how students can still enjoy student organizations and each other’s camaraderie, and how schools can better offer their students campus resources in their homes.
Find out how you can enter the Georgetown Entrepreneurship COVID-19 Design Challenge!
Learn more about the prizes and how we will select our winners!
