Hana Memon, 18
Advocacy and empowerment of marginalized voices has been a passion of Hana’s since a young age. Her younger brother, Ahmed, was diagnosed with CHARGE, a rare syndrome that compromises breathing, swallowing and hearing capabilities and resulted in her brother being Deaf. Caring for Ahmed gave Hana and her family an understanding of the communication gap that exists between people with special needs like Ahmed and the rest of the world. Eager to bridge this gap, Hana used programming as a new medium for civic and social change.
Coding gave Hana a platform to express her ideas in a logical, yet creative way. She first learned to code at Kode With Klossy, where she made her first website spreading Deaf awareness. The intense summer of learning and bonding left her with life-long friends and, most importantly, the understanding that technology could be used to promote social welfare. This knowledge sparked more inspiration in her, leaving her desperately looking for a new space to educate herself and use her technical skills to build projects for social change.
Through a casual encounter on social media, she was eventually led to ByteHacks and it didn’t take much convincing to get a few of her fellow scholars on a train to New York with her. By the end of the weekend, Hana and her team had built a web app to help those with limited medical knowledge, assist anyone hurt by natural disasters, and find local places that provide fair medical care and support. Thanks to their hard work and help from mentors, Hana, and her teammates' project was recognized by Blink Health. This recognition left her with the confidence to continue pursuing technology and with the comfort of knowing that at any given hackathon there will be supportive mentors to help anyone that may be struggling.
With the release of Just Mercy, a documentary covering the enforcement of systemic racism through the U.S. criminal justice system, Hana and her friends from Kode With Klossy (including Kamryn Ohly) met up at TechTogether Boston 2020 with an idea fueled by a new passion. In 36 fast-paced hours, they developed Aurora, an iOS app that connects wrongly convicted individuals to local legal aid to amplify their voices and stories. Among her completed projects, Aurora remains her favorite. This project was especially fulfilling for Hana because it was her first fully functioning project that inspired change. Hackathons don’t come without long nights and bugs in the code, but in the end, Aurora came together even better than she or her team anticipated.
Hackathons are more than just awards and prizes, a fact that was made clear to Hana while at TechTogether Boston 2019. As the five-minute countdown sounded off, Hana had a faulty hack on her hands. At first, she was crushed. All the feelings of regret left her replaying events in her head, wondering what she could have done differently to avoid this disappointment. But it was with this disappointment that Hana reminded herself of why she loves technology. Failure is a part of the process. Without experimentation, you won’t fail and therefore, you won’t learn. Every instance of growth in Hana’s learning experience can be credited to a mistake that was made. Learning Java after weeks of logic errors, getting her first website up and running after hours of glitches, finalizing her most recent mobile app after fifty-six crashes—these were some of her most frustrating moments, but they are also her proudest moments. So as that five-minute countdown reached zero, she closed her laptop happily. She hadn’t failed, she had learned something.
In the years since learning to code, every project that Hana takes under her wing has combined her love for coding with a determination to make the world a better place. She brings these experiences to every hackathon, aiming to create apps and websites while keeping accessibility for marginalized communities at the forefront of her mind. Hackathons instilled in Hana an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, which drove her to create accessible tools so technology can serve its purpose to be beneficial for everyone.
The welcoming hackathon community left Hana with the desire to give back as an organizer and mentor. After hacking at TechTogether Boston, Hana joined the small but powerful TechTogether New York organizing team as the Co-Director of Marketing. A goal she wanted to set for this position was to redefine the hacker stereotype while advocating for TechTogether’s mission. As a young Muslim woman of color, Hana felt passionate about carrying the sense of mentorship and support that she received during her time at hackathons forward for hackers like her. The marketing team's goal was to attract new hackers in the New York area to the TechTogether event and demonstrate the creative and innovative spaces that hackathons provide. All in all the event was a success, hosting over 100 hackers, 54% of whom were first-timers.
Hana found fulfillment in bringing so many new members of the community into spaces where their skills could be supported. The idea that a hackathon could have a direct impact on someone’s professional career was incredibly powerful and continued to fuel her work with TechTogether through workshops on internships and confidence. A high school student even reached out to Hana explaining how they cold-emailed a local business using her strategies to expand their web development skills. She was stunned that one seemingly small workshop was able to impact anybody’s career, and especially at such a young age.
Hana credits young hackers like them with motivating her to give back to the community. She has found a way to do that through the MLH Coach’s program. As a Coach, Hana has helped empower over 1,000 hackers through events like Hack-sessible, where she led an American Sign Language workshop to encourage hackers to build inclusive technologies. Moreover, Hana’s newfound passion for computer science education has led her to host livestreams on MLH's Twitch channel, teaching her audience about web development, data visualization, and machine learning. Through her experiences as a Coach, Hana has been able to engage directly with hacker communities like BLAHAJGang which empowers her to remain curious, creative, and compassionate.
Hana’s journey into tech was spurred by passionate and dedicated mentors who went above and beyond to stand by her side. Today, she continues to advocate for marginalized groups and challenging what we believe hackers to be. She’s come a long way from being mentored in her time of need, to mentoring those that need it the most. As an MLH Coach, it’s not hard to see that Hana’s goal towards expanding the hacker community is in full effect.
Quick Facts
Hana Memon, 18
Advocacy and empowerment of marginalized voices has been a passion of Hana’s since a young age. Her younger brother, Ahmed, was diagnosed with CHARGE, a rare syndrome that compromises breathing, swallowing and hearing capabilities and resulted in her brother being Deaf. Caring for Ahmed gave Hana and her family an understanding of the communication gap that exists between people with special needs like Ahmed and the rest of the world. Eager to bridge this gap, Hana used programming as a new medium for civic and social change.
Coding gave Hana a platform to express her ideas in a logical, yet creative way. She first learned to code at Kode With Klossy, where she made her first website spreading Deaf awareness. The intense summer of learning and bonding left her with life-long friends and, most importantly, the understanding that technology could be used to promote social welfare. This knowledge sparked more inspiration in her, leaving her desperately looking for a new space to educate herself and use her technical skills to build projects for social change.
Through a casual encounter on social media, she was eventually led to ByteHacks and it didn’t take much convincing to get a few of her fellow scholars on a train to New York with her. By the end of the weekend, Hana and her team had built a web app to help those with limited medical knowledge, assist anyone hurt by natural disasters, and find local places that provide fair medical care and support. Thanks to their hard work and help from mentors, Hana, and her teammates' project was recognized by Blink Health. This recognition left her with the confidence to continue pursuing technology and with the comfort of knowing that at any given hackathon there will be supportive mentors to help anyone that may be struggling.
With the release of Just Mercy, a documentary covering the enforcement of systemic racism through the U.S. criminal justice system, Hana and her friends from Kode With Klossy (including Kamryn Ohly) met up at TechTogether Boston 2020 with an idea fueled by a new passion. In 36 fast-paced hours, they developed Aurora, an iOS app that connects wrongly convicted individuals to local legal aid to amplify their voices and stories. Among her completed projects, Aurora remains her favorite. This project was especially fulfilling for Hana because it was her first fully functioning project that inspired change. Hackathons don’t come without long nights and bugs in the code, but in the end, Aurora came together even better than she or her team anticipated.
Hackathons are more than just awards and prizes, a fact that was made clear to Hana while at TechTogether Boston 2019. As the five-minute countdown sounded off, Hana had a faulty hack on her hands. At first, she was crushed. All the feelings of regret left her replaying events in her head, wondering what she could have done differently to avoid this disappointment. But it was with this disappointment that Hana reminded herself of why she loves technology. Failure is a part of the process. Without experimentation, you won’t fail and therefore, you won’t learn. Every instance of growth in Hana’s learning experience can be credited to a mistake that was made. Learning Java after weeks of logic errors, getting her first website up and running after hours of glitches, finalizing her most recent mobile app after fifty-six crashes—these were some of her most frustrating moments, but they are also her proudest moments. So as that five-minute countdown reached zero, she closed her laptop happily. She hadn’t failed, she had learned something.
In the years since learning to code, every project that Hana takes under her wing has combined her love for coding with a determination to make the world a better place. She brings these experiences to every hackathon, aiming to create apps and websites while keeping accessibility for marginalized communities at the forefront of her mind. Hackathons instilled in Hana an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, which drove her to create accessible tools so technology can serve its purpose to be beneficial for everyone.
The welcoming hackathon community left Hana with the desire to give back as an organizer and mentor. After hacking at TechTogether Boston, Hana joined the small but powerful TechTogether New York organizing team as the Co-Director of Marketing. A goal she wanted to set for this position was to redefine the hacker stereotype while advocating for TechTogether’s mission. As a young Muslim woman of color, Hana felt passionate about carrying the sense of mentorship and support that she received during her time at hackathons forward for hackers like her. The marketing team's goal was to attract new hackers in the New York area to the TechTogether event and demonstrate the creative and innovative spaces that hackathons provide. All in all the event was a success, hosting over 100 hackers, 54% of whom were first-timers.
Hana found fulfillment in bringing so many new members of the community into spaces where their skills could be supported. The idea that a hackathon could have a direct impact on someone’s professional career was incredibly powerful and continued to fuel her work with TechTogether through workshops on internships and confidence. A high school student even reached out to Hana explaining how they cold-emailed a local business using her strategies to expand their web development skills. She was stunned that one seemingly small workshop was able to impact anybody’s career, and especially at such a young age.
Hana credits young hackers like them with motivating her to give back to the community. She has found a way to do that through the MLH Coach’s program. As a Coach, Hana has helped empower over 1,000 hackers through events like Hack-sessible, where she led an American Sign Language workshop to encourage hackers to build inclusive technologies. Moreover, Hana’s newfound passion for computer science education has led her to host livestreams on MLH's Twitch channel, teaching her audience about web development, data visualization, and machine learning. Through her experiences as a Coach, Hana has been able to engage directly with hacker communities like BLAHAJGang which empowers her to remain curious, creative, and compassionate.
Hana’s journey into tech was spurred by passionate and dedicated mentors who went above and beyond to stand by her side. Today, she continues to advocate for marginalized groups and challenging what we believe hackers to be. She’s come a long way from being mentored in her time of need, to mentoring those that need it the most. As an MLH Coach, it’s not hard to see that Hana’s goal towards expanding the hacker community is in full effect.
Quick Facts
