DeisHacks 2026

ABOUT DEISHACKS

Welcome to Deishacks! To learn more about our non-profit partners and register head to: https://www.brandeis.edu/global/deishacks/

Hosted by the Brandeis School of Business and Economics, this year's DeisHacks is a 48-hour hybrid competition targeted at real-world solutions. This social design challenge focused on pain points from the 8 not-for-profits partners. Instead of having a single hackathon challenge, this event's theme will fuse design thinking & social impact to work on real-world solutions for non-profit companies. Each hackathon team will choose a pain point from Waltham's diverse non-profit community they find compelling to focus on. If you're making a real impact, you have a chance to win our $1,000 top prize or two other $500 awards and a startup consultation for the "Best AI Application for Non-Profits" category is brought to you by The Open Accelerator (Red Hat|IBM|The Commonwealth of Massachusetts: https://the-open-accelerator.com/). We offer free food and drinks to all in-person participants - and the first 100 people to show up in person Friday Night get teeshirts!
Welcome to #deisHacks !

WHY DEISHACKS?

Our challenges are identified by 8 local non-profit organizations in which Brandeis students serve as non-voting Board Fellows. A hackathon is typically a technology-focused event, however, we’ve looked beyond computer science enthusiasts, integrating students of all majors, to help serve local non-profit needs. As long as you're a critical thinker and a problem solver, then you can excel in this event.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Previous year’s winning technical hacks include things like a VR space that provokes sympathy and explains the systemic issues that lead to homelessness created for Waltham's CDCW. There is also a prize for a non-technical hack, one example from past events was a specialized media engagement platform to bridge the gap between local youth and the non-profit. Last year there were a total of 25 hacks that provided real-world implementable solutions to non-profits. See last year's winners here: https://deishacks-2025.devpost.com/project-gallery