ProgramEarth
NYC skyline with Little Island and Lower Manhattan
Upcoming eventNYC · Nov 7, 2026NEW YORK. OUR ENVIRONMENT. OUR FUTURE.

NYC Environmental Agent-a-thon.

AI Agents helping Public Sector Agencies with Environmental Data. A hackathon for students. Real impact for New York.

Part of the 2026 COP Climate Week Network
Applications openSponsor commitments close Oct 1, 20261 dayIn-person · New York City
Sponsors
JPMorgan logoOpenAI logoFidelity logoLACI logo

An afternoon where students, sponsors, and New York's environmental agencies ship real software together.

Sponsor this event →Apply as a participant
By the numbers

An afternoon, sized to the challenge.

0+
hectares
protected across ProgramEarth's partner network.
0M
people
served by New York State environmental agencies.
0
day
of building, mentorship, and demos with agency partners.
2026 Sponsorship Prospectus · NYC Agent-a-thon

Put your platform
in the hands of
builders.

ProgramEarth turns APIs, AI tools, cloud credits, and open-source frameworks into environmental use cases that builders ship, agencies evaluate, and your teams reuse. Sponsor one event or a multi-market series across Oakland, New York City, and Washington, DC.

Download the prospectusTalk to us about sponsoring
Cover of the ProgramEarth 2026 Hackathon Sponsorship Prospectus, Code for the Planet

0+ students served across 0 countries and 0+ participating organizations.

How it works

Sponsors define. Students build. Agencies keep it running.

Step 01

Sponsors define the challenge.

You choose the environmental use case. We provide the context.

  • Provide APIs, AI tools, cloud credits, or environmental workflows.
  • We connect your technology to real public datasets and agency needs.
  • Your platform is used by future engineers building solutions for New York.
Step 02

Students build AI agents & systems.

Students from CUNY, SUNY, Columbia, and Cornell build prototypes using your tools.

  • AI agents for environmental risk management.
  • Water quality & watershed monitoring.
  • Large environmental database pipelines.
  • Geospatial, sensor, and remote sensing workflows.
  • Public-sector reporting and decision support systems.
Step 03

Projects continue with agency partners.

Top projects don't end on demo day. They continue in the real world.

  • Agency partners evaluate and adopt useful tools.
  • Open-source code, models, and workflows are retained by agencies.
  • Tools support environmental monitoring, compliance, and community resilience.
  • Students gain mentorship and pathways for future collaborations.
Project tracks

Three focus areas, one afternoon.

AI Agents

  • · Climate indicators
  • · Land-use changes
  • · Flood risk agents
  • · Wildfire risk agents
  • · Watershed degradation agents
  • · Erosion & sediment analysis agents

Data Visualization

  • · Public environmental dashboards
  • · Sensor feeds
  • · GIS & spatial analysis
  • · Real-time opportunity zones
  • · Environmental dashboards
  • · Interactive mapping

Open Source Architecture

  • · Reusable agent frameworks
  • · APIs & data pipelines
  • · Reference architectures for deployment
  • · Community-driven improvements
Why sponsor

Talent, trust, and real deliverables, from one afternoon.

The Agent-a-thon puts your engineers in the room with the next generation of AI and environmental talent, alongside the agencies already deploying that work at scale.

  • Access emerging AI and environmental engineering talent from top NY universities.

  • Brand alignment with New York State agencies and public-interest partners.

  • Working prototypes that continue with agency partners after the event.

What students will build

Working tools by 5pm, not slide decks.

Teams ship a functioning, agent-powered tool against a real environmental workflow in a single day, built on your APIs, SDKs, and datasets.

OpenNature Map, a student-built dashboard showing tribal consultation alerts for water basins, wildfire zones and transport corridors across a California map
Example buildOpenNature Map surfaces new consultation alerts, highway expansions, reservoir plans, fuel breaks, wind farms, against water basins, wildfire zones and transport corridors, then routes each one into a coordinated response for tribal and agency reviewers.

  • A demoable repo, same day

    Every team ships a working prototype and a public repository, not a concept deck. You leave with something you can run.

  • Built on your stack

    Sponsors define the challenge. Your API, SDK, or dataset becomes the reference implementation students learn on and keep using.

  • Validated by real users

    Agency and community partners sit with the teams, so the workflows are pressure-tested by the people who actually run them.

  • Output that keeps circulating

    Repos, demos, and badges travel with students to LinkedIn and their next roles, extending your reach well past the event.

Tier 3 sponsors get to issue custom badges.

Each custom badge links students back to your repository, helping more builders discover your tools, understand what you offer, and start building with them.

OpenEarth Hacks · AWS Strands for Sustainability badge
Students earn a LinkedIn-worthy badge on your tools
Past badge example
Built with
Strands
Issued by
ProgramEarth markProgramEarth
Agenda

November 7, 2026.

9–9:30 AMCheck-in + breakfast
9:30–10 AMWelcome + challenge overview
10–10:30 AMAgency and environmental dataset presentations
10:30–11 AMProject tracks walkthrough
11–11:30 AMTechnical onboarding & team formation
11:30 AM–12 PMLunch
12–5 PMBuild session
5–5:45 PMProject demos
5:45–7 PMReception

Live captions, wheelchair accessible, quiet space, and livestream access provided.

In partnership with

Universities and State Agencies.

Academic partners
CUNY logoSUNY logoColumbia logoCornell logo
Agency partners
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation logo

November 7, 2026. New York City.

Whether you're bringing a team, a budget, or a challenge, get in touch and we'll route you to the right side of the room.

Event runs November 7, 2026 · Sponsor deadline October 1

Sponsor this event →Apply as a participant

Building AI solutions for watersheds · Stronger communities · A better future

Sponsorship

Three ways to support the Agent-a-thon.

Tier 1

Community Partner

$1,500 – $2,500

Live product demo, post-event lead list, and event photo content. Pricing is based on demo length.

  • Live product demo: showcase your product, workflow, or tool during the event.
  • Lead list: post-event access to the participant and talent list.
  • Event photo content: branded event photos from your sponsor presence and live demo.
  • Logo on website and event materials.
  • LinkedIn mentions and event recap posts.
  • Sponsor listing and mentor participation opportunities.
Sponsor this tier →
Tier 2

Builder Partner

$4,500

Everything in Community Partner, plus co-branded swag, a branded recap video, and a sponsor reference architecture.

  • Everything in Community Partner (Tier 1).
  • Co-branded swag: small sponsor logo placement on shirts or swag.
  • Branded recap video: 1 minute sponsor-branded segment within the hackathon recap.
  • Reference architecture: your use case is built as a sponsor reference repository for community adoption.
Sponsor this tier →
Tier 3

Strategic Partner

$6,500+

Everything in Tiers 1 and 2, plus a customer video interview, co-branded case study, and a maintained advanced reference architecture.

  • Everything in Community Partner and Builder Partner (Tiers 1 and 2).
  • Co-branded swag: large sponsor logo placement on shirts or swag.
  • Customer video interview: 1 minute interview with a state agency or public-sector partner about your tool.
  • Co-branded case study highlighting productivity or efficiency gains with your tool, plus event outcomes.
  • Advanced reference architecture, maintained by ProgramEarth for 6 months after the event.
Sponsor this tier →
  • Community Partner pricing is based on demo length.
  • Advanced reference architecture includes 6 months of support, then $500 per additional 6 months.
  • Sponsor content and activations require ProgramEarth approval.