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Contribute your talent and innovation to help an NGO.
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SAVE THE DATE! June 17th - June 21st, 2024
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This foundation works towards the socio-economic inclusion of vulnerable individuals (70% women). Our challenge is to develop strategies to scale up the labor integration of women at risk of exclusion from 1000 to 2000 per year.
The Esade Alumni Solidarity Hackathon was organized on the theme "The Social Impact Room". A total of 42 alumni participated in the experience. This team-based initiative was organized for the benefit of the Homeless Entrepreneur, promoting economic empowerment and poverty reduction through work and active citizenship thanks to public-private collaboration, so that people living in social exclusion can improve their quality of life. The organization faces numerous challenges. Four multidisciplinary teams, each guided by a coach, worked intensively using the design thinking methodology for more than 12 hours, providing valuable and innovative solutions, based on their own assessment of this organization.
At Esade Alumni, we firmly believe that this project brings value to our alumni, because they have the opportunity to practice skills such as collaborative leadership, active listening, creativity, critical thinking and social responsibility. It is also a great opportunity to share knowledge about strategy, marketing, fundraising, alliance building and sustainability with other members of the Alumni community. Translated with DeepL.com (free version).
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In this edition more than 40 Esade Alumni in more than 10 different countries shared their talent and worked together for an intense week.
The collective effort was made to benefit the NGO Dream Nepal, in Kathmandu, whose goal is to attend to the needs of children in Nepal whose mothers are in prison. The organization provides a safe home, a proper diet, healthcare, psychological care and education to guarantee the children’s proper development.
However, just like any organization or company, it has to grapple with many future challenges, so the four multidisciplinary teams, each accompanied by a facilitator, worked intensely for more than 12 hours using the Design Thinking method to offer this reputable NGO innovative, valuable solutions.
We at Esade Alumni firmly believe that this project brings our alumni value, because they have the chance to practice skills like collaborative leadership, active listening, creativity, critical thinking and social responsibility. Plus, it’s a great chance to share knowledge about strategy, marketing, fund-raising, creating alliances and sustainability with other Alumni community members.
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In this second edition, the collective effort was made to benefit the Plant for the Planet, an organisation with extensive national and international experience that aims to empower children and young people in the fight against the climate emergency and help restore forests around the world.
The challenge posed by the organisation is one that is quite common for today’s organisations and profoundly important for the future of our planet: How can we get the young people at Spain’s schools more involved in the climate emergency? More specifically, once these young leaders have been identified, how can we make sure they stay engaged with the cause in the long run and recruit others to work towards climate justice?
Our alumni volunteers split into five multidisciplinary groups guided by coaches and worked using the design thinking methodology to tackle this challenge of engagement. After more than 12 hours of teamwork, the volunteers presented five innovative proposals, based on principles such as gamification, that had a marked focus on creating active and enriching communities for all stakeholders. Jordi Juanós, Director of Plant for the Planet Spain, commented: “The Hackathon was a new and enriching experience for us. In today’s changing world, where third-sector organisations have to face more and more challenges, adapting to new social environments becomes imperative. I believe we have successfully achieved this by getting outside input through the Hackathon. Thanks to the participation of the alumni and the proposals made by each of the teams, we have discovered opportunities to solve specific challenges faced by Plant for the Planet Spain. We are grateful for all of your conclusions and recommendations. I assure you that we will put your ideas into practice in pursuit of our objectives.”
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The event followed the Big Bloom methodology, which has been used in more than 200 hackathons across the globe. Participants were split into teams of eight people. Each team was assigned a volunteer coach, who was a member of the alumni community who had been specifically trained for this purpose.
Participation in the Hackathon was done online, allowing the involvement of alumni from different countries around the world, including Peru and Germany, and from various parts of Spain, including Barcelona, the Canary Islands, Zaragoza, Madrid and Girona.
The hackathon consisted of four phases, each focusing on a different skill: active listening during the empathy phase, creativity during the ideation phase, critical thinking during the prototyping phase and public speaking during the pitch phase. The participants learned work methodologies that enabled them to mobilise their collective intelligence. Iñaki Ocaña (Lic& MBA 06 / DARH 12), International Alumni Relations Director at Esade Alumni and coach of Hackathon Team 2, commented: “Participating in the Hackathon to benefit Plant for the Planet was, without a doubt, one of the greatest experiences I have had as a member of Esade Alumni. I didn’t know what work method we were going to use, how we were going to be able to work together or if we were really going to be able to find implementable solutions. Everything was perfect. They explained to us at the outset how it would work, what the objectives of each session were, and so on. It is an intense project in terms of the number of hours, but also tremendously satisfying in many ways. I also had the opportunity to catch up with other alumni that I had crossed paths with in the past. It was a pleasure to be able to work together again on a radically different project. Just one more thing: don’t miss out on the next edition!”
Cinta La Casa (MBA 91)
“For me, it was a magical experience! I was really looking forward to participating in a hackathon. When I learned about this opportunity, I signed up right away. Although I was only able to participate in part of the process, I saw how the interaction of three elements is essential to the success of a project (even an online one): the complementary talents of the participants and the coach; active listening among all participants; and passion for adding value. The result was a mix that allowed us to grow with each contribution, building on each other’s ideas, which ultimately became the team’s ideas. Without knowing each other at all, the magic arose, the value emerged, and we helped to make a better world.”
Sandra Oller (Lic&ADE 01)
“For me, this Hackathon was pure inspiration, enthusiasm, creativity, team building, sharing, having an impact, learning and enjoying the experience. It was also very inspiring get to know Plant for the Planet, especially its young ambassadors Mara and Adriana, who are filled with motivation, drive and leadership skills. I am so pleased to have been able to contribute with our proposal so that more children and young people can get involved. As for the experience itself, the best thing was the team – Xavier, Gemma, Natxo, Cinta and Salva, our coach – and the dynamic that we generated organically in such a short time. Meeting professionals with a wide range of talents, connecting and building together, and generating value in a creative and purposeful way – all of this makes the Hackathon a very powerful experience. And behind the scenes you have the design thinking methodology, as well as the organisation and enthusiasm of everyone at Esade Alumni Social and Big Bloom. It was a great experience – intense and impactful!”
Gemma Andreu (Lic&MBA 90)
“It was dynamic, fun, agile and, most importantly, useful for the association we helped. This hackathon model is perfect for those of us who want to lend a hand to the community but are unable to put in very many hours, thanks to the format of the process, the remote work setup, and the dedication of the team and the coaches. Congratulations to everyone involved!”
The 1st Esade Alumni Solidarity Hackathon was organised around the theme of “A Good New Year’s Resolution: Helping NGOs That Need You”. A total of 40 alumni took part in the experience.
This teamwork-based initiative was organised to benefit the Quiero Trabajo Foundation, which facilitates the social and occupational reintegration of women at risk of social exclusion, with a spectacular success rate of over 80%. Like any organisation or company, the foundation faces numerous challenges. Five multidisciplinary teams, each guided by a coach, worked intensely using the design-thinking method for more than 12 hours, providing valuable and innovative solutions based on their own assessment of this renowned NGO.
The teams worked together remotely. Participants included alumni from the United States, Germany and Italy, as well as various cities across Spain, including Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Toledo, Barcelona and Madrid.
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The experience was very enriching both for the alumni and for the beneficiary organisation. Throughout the experience, participants had the opportunity to get to know each other, share their views, discover new realities, learn about the third sector and familiarise themselves with new design-thinking methodologies. In addition to five useful solutions to the challenges posed, the Quiero Trabajo Foundation obtained a highly valuable outsider’s view from the participating professionals, as well as brand awareness, publicity for its cause and more than one good contact for future collaborations, given that the alumni fell in love with the foundation’s work and mission.
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The event followed the Big Bloom methodology, which has been used in more than 200 hackathons across the globe. Participants were split into teams of eight people. Each team was assigned a volunteer coach, who was a member of the alumni community who had been specifically trained for this purpose.
The hackathon consisted of four phases, each focusing on a different skill: active listening during the empathy phase, creativity during the ideation phase, critical thinking during the prototyping phase and public speaking during the pitch phase. The participants learned work methodologies that enabled them to mobilise their collective intelligence.
For the foundation, the opportunity to participate in a Solidarity Hackathon with the Esade Alumni community was, in their own words, indescribable. Anna Ballús, Head of Communication and Marketing at the Quiero Trabajo Foundation, declared: “At the Quiero Trabajo Foundation, we have a small structure, but at the same time we handle a large number of projects, collaborations, volunteers and candidates day after day: more than 2,200 people used our services in 2021 alone! While we are certain that excellence, agility and focus are the keys to our day-to-day success, we mustn’t forget that we need to step back from our everyday work and keep searching for ways to improve, grow and take a fresh look at the working environment around us.” The Esade Alumni community stepped up to deliver precisely what the foundation needed. “In just a few days’ time, these great professionals managed to understand our needs, our pains, and work on innovative solutions with the aim of improving and promoting our organisation,” said Ballús. “I can assure you that this experience has given us a long list of tasks to implement, and we are convinced that they will make a difference for our future. Thank you for helping us reach more vulnerable women, and thank you for helping us change their lives and the lives of their families!”
We would like to highlight the diversity of the participants’ backgrounds, the efficiency of the work method, the usefulness of the Hackathon for the Quiero Trabajo Foundation and, finally, the fact that most participants described the Hackathon as a great learning experience.
Ivo Güell (Strategic Marketing Management 01)
“The Hackathon is an immersive experience that is hard to match. It is a challenge where the participants are very talented. The pressure of time and of the game itself makes you vibrate at an unusual frequency. You relive scenarios of healthy competition, humour, strength and mental pressure with colleagues with whom networking is always a ‘DEFCON 5’ luxury. Missing out on it is a crime.”
Isabel de Trincheria (Advanced HR Management 03)
“The Esade Alumni and Big Bloom team made it easy. They ‘plugged us in’ to give us the energy to keep going. I am left with the gratifying feeling of having contributed to the Quiero Trabajo Foundation and, indirectly, to the reintegration of women. I hope that it will have an impact on society. We were faced with the challenge of proposing a solution to a problem and having to bring our ideas down to a level of concreteness that would enable action, rather than staying in dream mode. It was an enriching experience for me because of the chance to work with people from different disciplines. We created a team in record time, came up with a prototype for a solution, and sorted out our differences and overcame minor obstacles related to availability – and in the end, everybody won. I am now a Hackathon lover!”.
Elisabet Pont
“I had never participated in a Hackathon before. My expectations were very high, but in fact, the reality far exceeded them. My team was great. We got along very well right from the start. We started working as a team from the very first minute. It was such a good experience that we’ve agreed to meet up one day for drinks. Honestly, what this experience gave me was the chance to meet great people and collaborate with a foundation that does such important work. Being able to offer them our idea and help them with their outreach and growth was very gratifying.”
Verne Oliver Henderson (MBA 87)
“My participation was exciting for four main reasons. First, the feeling of fulfilment that came from voluntarily helping other people – in this case, both an NGO and women at risk of social exclusion. Second, it was great to relive the Esade camaraderie of working together to achieve a goal on a deadline. We all felt the same way and shared the same work ‘rules’ to get the job done. Third, by chance I had recently taken an online course on design thinking, so I was grateful for the timely opportunity to apply it in the real world. And finally, it was great to share this experience with other alumni and to come together so quickly to form a team.”
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Entities benefited from our Solidarity Hackathon:
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