Feminist Future(s) Hackathon


Feminism, Hackathon

A month-long online hackathon and community event series exploring feminist future(s) in which people and the planet thrive.

Organized in collaboration with Catherine D’Ignazio, Alexis Hope, Josephine Hoy, Jenn Roberts, Melissa Teng, and Laura Zittrain

From May 3-30, 2021, we hosted a virtual hackathon, public speaker series, and virtual art exhibition around feminist innovation and values.

The Feminist Future(s) Hackathon website in January 2020.

Community Partners

  • The Renée
  • Period Equity
  • Pueblo Action Alliance
  • National Domestic Workers Alliance
  • Sisters Unchained

Partners

  • MIT Media Lab
  • Data + Feminism Lab

Student Researcher

Melissa Teng

Process

Of 500+ applicants, we selected 50 hackathon participants from around the U.S. Participants formed 12 teams across four tracks:

  • Reproductive Justice
  • The Care Economy
  • Prison Abolition
  • Environmental Justice

Tracks were each mentored by community partner organizations. We also worked with dozens of volunteers in Care, Tech, and Skillshare teams.

Each week, we hosted one public speaker and one workshop facilitator to explore the week’s theme: Care, World-Building, Pleasure, and Time.

Outcomes

Almost all teams have continued to meet about their projects and new collaborations beyond the hackathon timeframe. Designed interventions included interactive resource maps for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities; dinner conversation cards to counter stigmas around reproductive health, and a dictionary to begin building shared vocabulary around care.

Our hackathon inspired two other independently organized Feminist Futures hackathons in London and Helsinki.

Website

ourfeministfutures.com

Location

Online

Funder

MIT Media Lab Director’s Fund