About Hack4Impact

Our Mission

Hack4Impact exists for both nonprofits and students. We connect student software developers with nonprofits and other socially responsible businesses to develop powerful new tools for social change. This enables nonprofits to further their mission and better engage their clients. We are committed to increasing awareness of technology's potential for good.

Our Values

Curiosity

We are eager to learn about technology, ourselves, and the world around us. We dive deep into our fields of study and work, and seek feedback from our teammates, students, and teachers. We are hungry, yet humble; we are able to set aside our egos and view each moment and interaction as an opportunity to learn.

We are incredibly curious about our clients. We know we might not know everything, so we must ask the right questions to even begin to grasp the complexity of our clients’ situations. Curiosity also enables us to look beyond our immediate vicinity and deliver the best solution to our clients, even if the solution isn’t built by Hack4Impact.

Empathy

We look to understand perspectives, situations, and needs, and therefore are not afraid of asking or being asked clarifying questions. We make intentional, well-informed decisions by understanding the environments we are surrounded by and deeply listening to our teammates. We are then able to best mentor our own teammates growth because we can see where they are coming from.

Empathy drives every decision we make on behalf of our clients. Our empathetic approach provides a North Star to our development process. We’re able to settle difficult debates by agreeing and executing on what’s best for our client.

Intentionality

We evaluate the trade offs of our decisions, choose a direction to head, and crush our goals. Whether it be personal or professional growth, we avoid mindless movement and instead purposefully act.

We work with intention. We understand that at the end of the day, Hack4Impact exists to build solutions that are right for our clients and their users. We carefully assess the concerns of our users, stakeholders, and clients, to develop a custom solution that fits our precise constraints.

Our Team

Message from our Co-Directors

"Coming into Illinois, I had a narrow view of who I could become and what I could do. Hack4Impact really changed that for me. So grateful to learn with an amazing group of developers, designers, and all-around inspiring humans. Moving forward, I aspire to deepen our avenues for social impact and foster friendships that last beyond our short time here at Illinois. Can't wait to write Hack4Impact's story together with everyone!"
Annie Wu '21 |

"When I joined Hack4Impact, I had no idea which direction I wanted to take with my life - academically, professionally, and personally. In my time here, however, I've been able to build my skills while seeing how they fit into the bigger picture, not to mention creating a tangible impact with some of the most hard-working and motivated people I've met. It's been great to see how the organization has evolved in the past few semesters and I'm excited to see how it continues to grow!"
Arpan Laha '21 |