Social Activism Changemaker

Tell us about queer_hack: queer_hack is a community of LGBTQ+ students in tech and our aim is to empower LGBTQ+ folks in tech to succeed and shift the status quo in an overwhelmingly white, cisgender, straight, male industry. queer_hack builds networks of support via workshops, panels, mentorship, peer study groups, and an annual hackathon. We recently hosted our first virtual hackathon, a weekend-long coding competition, and conference, for nearly 200 LGBTQ+ students from across the country.

What inspired you to join the queer_hack team? “While I was working on projects in COMP 110 my first year at UNC I was really loving the material but I felt like I didn’t fit in with other Computer Science majors. I ended the semester without any friends in Computer Science, but when I attended the first queer_hack meeting I felt like I had found my people. After a few meetings I made some great friends to work on projects with, and I also made a pretty great memory involving a flamingo and a hurricane with some of these friends.” – Jacob Woody, he/him, Co-Director of Outreach, Class of 2022

First step your team took to put your idea into action: “When we started planning the hackathon, we talked to Pearl Hacks, a well-established UNC hackathon for women and nonbinary people, to get advice and resources for how to start the process and learn what they would have done differently at the beginning. At the time some of us had never been to a hackathon before, so learning from people with more experience planning them was really helpful.” – Jasper Christie, they/them, Co-Director of Skill and Social Development, Class of 2022

“Seconding what Jasper mentioned, we looked at Pearl Hacks’ model as well as a few organizations for underrepresented students that were more focused on long term community building like Black in Technology and Women in Computer Science. queer_hack is a mix and mash of programs that have worked in the past to support other marginalized communities.” – Kipp Williams, he/him, Executive Director, Class of 2021

Valuable Courses: COMP 523: Software Engineering Lab

Mentors: “Brandi Day, Rosario Vila, and Melissa Gunnel from the Department of Computer Science have been instrumental in mentoring us. I remember sitting down in Brandi’s office when queer_hack was nothing more than an idea and how her encouragement spurred me to find other students who experienced the lack of support for LGBTQ+ students in tech and wanted to change the status quo. They helped us successfully carry out our first hackathon even in the midst of a global pandemic and we certainly wouldn’t have been as successful without their guidance, expertise, and support.” – Kipp Williams, he/him, Executive Director, Class of 2021

Advice: “The biggest advice I can give to people interested in starting organizations in tech and hackathons like us is don’t be afraid to reach out to people! I got involved because our Executive Director, Kipp, told me about the idea which prompted me to join the team. This also goes to contacting mentors, sponsorships, and working with the Computer Science department. I think it seems really daunting contacting companies and university departments as a student, but a lot of the people and groups we reached out to were glad that we did and were really receptive to us.” – Ndobe Foletia, they/them, Director of Finance, Class of 2022