WASHINGTON, D.C. — On March 30th and 31st, I experienced firsthand that Diversity and Inclusion are indeed one of the best ways to produce some of the most creative and innovative ideas!

We are happy to say that we are the winners of BisonHacks 2018! Sara Rufael, Howard University; Shondace Thomas, Howard University; Elizabeth-Yvonne Sanders, Hampton University; and I formed a group at BisonHacks by fate! Because of our diverse majors, universities, experience, background, and different points of views we had to agree and compromise on many things!

We agreed on two innovative ideas; however, we realized that the ideas were not feasible based on the hackathon’s time constraints! In synopsis, I loved how this experience tested my mental agility, teamwork skills, and my adaptability. Also, I learned that engineers should definitely collaborate with individuals from other majors! Thank you Simeon Kakpovi for being our mentor! Thanks a million, Zuri Hunter and BisonHacks team for hosting this event so that students can collaborate and present innovative ideas with realistic business models!

Also thank you to Mapbox, Howard University, Howard University School of Business, Johnson & Johnson, Major League Hacking, Optoro, Spotify, Google, and all of our sponsors who made this event a reality (Swag was great!)

— Story and photos:  Shaunelle A. L. Thomas