Vanderbilt Hosts First ‘Global Good’ Hackathon Focused on Social Impact

Vanderbilt University held its inaugural Global Good Hackathon on April 12–13, bringing together over 50 students from Vanderbilt and Fisk University to develop tech solutions for real-world challenges, including social justice, education equity, and climate change. The event was sponsored by the Department of Computer Science and the new College of Connected Computing, with support from Salesforce SVP Antonio Akins (BS’96).

Akins, who helped inspire and fund the event, served as a judge alongside fellow alumni Ariana Fowler (BS’17) and Benjamin Sklar (BS’18), also offering mentorship throughout the weekend.

Winning projects included:

• goMigo – Grand Prize: a transit-access app for non-native speakers
• Nodify – Social Impact Award: a peer-to-peer emergency messaging tool
• AI-ttorney – Technical Achievement: an AI tool for public defenders

Led by professors Meiyi Ma and David Hyde, the hackathon was intentionally inclusive, involving student leaders from the National Society of Black Engineers, ColorStack, and Women in Computing. Plans are already underway to expand the event in 2026.

“This is just the beginning,” said Professor Jonathan Sprinkle, chair of computer science. “We’re excited to see this grow into something truly special.”