ProgramEarth
ProgramEarth hackathon group photo at Oracle Brazil
Sponsor a Hackathon

Give developers a reason to build with your platform.

From AI Agents to production workflows, Code for the Planet Hacks turn real world challenges into open source projects that showcase your platform and grow your developer ecosystem

Upcoming events
Upcoming
NYC · Sept 25–26, 2026
NYC Environmental Agent-a-thon
View event →
Upcoming
Oakland, CA · Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2026
Oakland Tech Week
View event →
Upcoming
Washington, DC · Fall 2026
DC AI Week
Join waitlist →
What we've hacked on
0+
acres of impact by 2027

Our hackathons have shipped tooling across reforestation, watershed, and wildlife projects on four continents.

United StatesBrazilIndiaGuatemalaItalyColombiaCanadaPeruSpainArgentina

Brazil

GitHub, Oracle, and PyGIS came together with the Ministry of Education and Manaus University. Impact: 5,000 acres of Rio Negro within the Amazon visualized for fires Project Areas: AI for GIS, biodiversity mapping, conservation dashboards

Seattle

Twilio, GitHub, Microsoft, and Scale AI came together with University of Washington and Washington Department of Ecology. Impact: 2,000 acres of Duwamish River watershed data modeled Project Areas: GIS workflows, public-sector data tools, watershed monitoring

SF Bay Area

Figma, Red Hat, and AWS came together with Oakland Parks & Rec and Hack the Hood. Impact: 115 acres of brownfield cleanup data mapped across Oakland and Emeryville Project Areas: environmental justice dashboards, civic data visualization, remediation tracking

Universities we've partnered with

Universidade Federal do Amazonas logoUniversidade Federal do Amazonas
Universidad de Buenos Aires logoUniversidad de Buenos Aires
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore logoIndian Institute of Science, Bangalore
UC Berkeley logoUC Berkeley
University of Washington logoUniversity of Washington
Yale School of the Environment logoYale School of the Environment
Columbia University logoColumbia University
Cornell University logoCornell University
University of Michigan logoUniversity of Michigan
La Esmeralda — Mexico School of Fine Arts logoLa Esmeralda — Mexico School of Fine Arts
Colorado State University logoColorado State University
Colorado State University Pueblo logoColorado State University Pueblo
Utah State University logoUtah State University
CUNY logoCUNY
SUNY logoSUNY
NYU logoNYU
Minneapolis College of Art & Design logoMinneapolis College of Art & Design
University of Arizona logoUniversity of Arizona
El Paso Community College logoEl Paso Community College
Metropolitan State University of Denver logoMetropolitan State University of Denver
Why hackathons?

Sustainability, impact, and talent — in one event.

Customer adoption

Projects become real-world references your customers and internal teams can point to when accelerating adoption of your platform.

Productivity metrics for your tool

Hackathons yield quantifiable usage data, letting companies track progress against sustainability targets and UN SDG goals.

AI for Good use cases

Teams prototype nature-tech solutions — demonstrating how your AI stack supports public-sector and conservation partners.

Event-in-a-box

Everything included to make your hackathon a success.

You bring the platform. We'll bring everything else. Less event planning. More developer adoption.

  • Venue

    In-person, hybrid, or fully remote — we source and staff the space.

  • Project scoping

    A briefed, buildable problem co-designed with a conservation partner.

  • Hack coordinators

    Dedicated PMs, mentors, and judges on the floor throughout the event.

  • Attendees & recruiting

    Curated developer + student audiences aligned to your talent goals.

  • Reels & recap

    Photo, video, and a CSR-ready impact report delivered post-event.

  • Reference repo/onboarding guide

    A ready-to-use codebase and setup guide that helps engineering teams get started.

  1. T−6 weeks
    Step 01

    Choose Your Moment

    Sponsor a project track at Climate Week, a UN convening, a university program, or an open-source event.

    Deliverables
    • Intake call + sponsor brief
    • Track goals & success metrics
    • Event date + venue lock-in
    • Partner alignment (NGO, gov, university)
  2. T−4 weeks
    Step 02

    We Coordinate the Build

    ProgramEarth handles project scoping, participants, mentors, logistics, judging, and reporting—so your team can focus on showcasing the platform.

    Deliverables
    • Scoped, buildable problem statements
    • Mentor + judge roster confirmed
    • Participant funnel + registration
    • Venue, catering, and tooling setup
  3. Event Day
    Step 03

    Builders Use Your Platform

    Students, developers, and public-sector partners build AI agents, workflows, dashboards, or data tools with your technology.

    Deliverables
    • Run-of-show + on-site production
    • Hands-on mentorship from your team
    • Judging, awards, and demos
    • Photo + video capture throughout
  4. T+2 weeks
    Step 04

    Reuse What Ships

    You leave with reference repos, onboarding guides, architecture diagrams, demos, and impact stories your DevRel, OSPO, and customer teams can reuse.

    Deliverables
    • Reference repositories + onboarding guides
    • Architecture diagrams + demo reel
    • CSR-ready impact report
    • Case study assets for DevRel + comms

Typical timeline — we flex ±2 weeks around your event date

Case study

GitHub accelerates Copilot adoption with the Ministry of Education in Manaus.

An open-source conservation project — built at a ProgramEarth hackathon — surfaced all the way to COP30 conversations and a Web Summit Rio keynote.

ProgramEarth keynote at Web Summit Rio — 60K climate projects on GitHub
  • Customer & dev engagement

    An Amazon conservation open-source project became a Web Summit Rio highlight — demoing GitHub's AI potential on stage.

  • Government collaboration for COP30

    Chief Sustainability Officer Melanie Nakagawa surfaced the project with the Ministries of Agriculture and Energy, demonstrating how open-source tools support larger environmental initiatives.

  • Volunteer impact

    One of GitHub's most engaged employee volunteer initiatives — pulling in engineering, support, field services, talent, and DevRel.

  • Copilot productivity

    Across the series of hacks, developers reported a ~40% productivity gain after onboarding correctly to GitHub Copilot.

~40%
Copilot productivity gain reported by devs after onboarding.
Measured across the GitHub × Manaus hack series.
ProgramEarth team at the OpenAI ForumProgramEarth team at KCD New York 2026ProgramEarth at OSPOs for Good 2024 at the United Nations
STEAL THESE STATS FOR YOUR PITCH
40%
Accelerate AI Adoption
Use open-source frameworks, models, and tools to accelerate AI implementation
71%
Increase in developer engagement
Organizations believe participating in open source helps attract technical talent.

Let's build one together.

Tell us about your team size, timing, and cause areas — we'll come back with a proposed format and partner match.

Talk to our team →Sponsor overview