Let’s tackle COVID-19 together.. an open call.

I couldn’t help but see the COVID-19 has rapidly swept up and thrown our world into something we had never imagine — it felt almost surreal having my classes via Google Hangouts today (something I’ve always dreamed of). But now over 290million students across the world are out school because of this viral pandemic and we’re forced as a society to “catch up”.

This feeling of ‘surrealness’ however felt almost too good to be true. The social justice warrior inside me knew there was something more.. and that’s when It hit me.. not everyone is as lucky as I am; to have access to rapid internet speeds, a laptop, wireless headsets and all the amenities I need for my class — I can imagine how many thousand of kids lack these resources and will be forced to find some means to stay engaged as schools continue to shut their doors. COVID-19 is pushing the edges of our social system and many individuals are now being robbed of the services and tools they need to survive. We are seeing the impacts of a pandemic driven social justice battle.

Imagine the portion of the worlds population living in poverty who will soon have to ration between food or a hand sanitizer — how are we solving for them? How are we building capacity for tele-medicine in remote areas or tackling misinformation related to the virus? I knew their was a plethora of challenges and the one thing that I figured most is that I won’t be able to address these alone.

CALLING ALL HACKERS, DESIGNERS, ENTREPRENEURS…. Let’s Hack, together.

If you have even the slightest idea about my work; then you know I’m a firm believer that technology can be used to address some of the most pressing issues in our society (at scale) and in that breath, we’re seeking the most talented PROGRAMMERS, ENGINEERS, DESIGNER, MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AND EVEN ENTREPRENEURS to collaborate on finding innovative solutions to tackle many of these negative effects from the COVID-19 or similar pandemics of the future.

The virtual hackathon, Reinvent Hacks, will be hosted from May 7–10 and will welcome talent from across the world to collaborate. I opted against coronahacks because we wanted to sustain the brand beyond the this viral outbreak.

Now I’m still ironing out some of the kinks of this virtual event but I’ll be bringing together some of the most talented brains I know and we’ll look how we can deliver a world class experience for our hackers. Just incase you’re wondering — I’ve organized, judged and participated in over 20 hackathons across the world. I founded and launched the largest hackathon in the Caribbean. Now I’m a student at Lynn University, exploring how we can use social entrepreneurship to transform the world as we know it.

STEP 1: Register to get updates as we gather prizes, sponsors and more details on our plans.

My ultimate goal is raising a $10,000 fund to support the best idea (0% equity) + free essential business services, but even better to act as a platform for some of the brightest minds in our generation to collaborate and think of innovative projects that transform the human interaction.