Zillow, United Negro College Fund, Black Tech Ventures to host HBCU Housing Hackathon

SEATTLE — Registration is now open for Zillow’s first hackathon for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) around the country. Beginning September 23, the seven-day virtual competition challenges students to develop and pitch creative and impactful tech solutions that align with Zillow’s goal to help consumers overcome obstacles on their journey to find a home. Nearly $90,000 in cash and prizes is up for grabs as students gain real-world experience in the technology industry. Zillow, in collaboration with United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Black Tech Ventures (BTV), will host the HBCU Housing Hackathon to help HBCU students further develop their skills through workshops, hands-on enrichment, mentorship and teamwork. To engage HBCU students who have various technical skill levels, Zillow’s HBCU hackathon is open to both students with advanced computer coding experience as well as those with little or no coding experience. Students will work closely with Zillow and BTV mentors. Teams can have as many as four members, and although registration is open to HBCU students in any degree program, each team must have at least one member enrolled in a computer science, computer engineering or related program. At the end of the weeklong event, team finalists will pitch their solutions to a panel of judges. The first-place team will receive a $20,000 cash award, split among its members, and Zillow will donate $25,000 to its school’s computer science program. Second- and third-place teams will receive $12,000 and $6,000 cash awards, respectively. Students from the top three teams also will receive new laptops, textbook gift cards and AfroTech World 2021 conference tickets. All eligible hackathon participants interested in a role at Zillow will have an opportunity to interview for an internship. “Zillow is proud to sponsor this hackathon because we best serve our customers when we can recruit and retain some of the best talent in the world — the kind of thinkers and doers incubated on the campuses of the country’s historically Black colleges and universities,” says Zillow Chief Technology Officer David Beitel. “Our goal is to strengthen our recruiting pipeline through engagement with HBCUs and encourage students to consider careers in the tech […]

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