CIBC in partnership with Lifelong Leadership Institute have first-ever Next Gen Hackathon

BY PAUL JUNOR

The first-ever CIBC Next Gen Hackathon was on Friday, December 15^th, 2023, at the CIBC Square in downtown Toronto. The Student Hackathon involved 98 Leadership by Design (LBD) student leaders of 14 teams, seven students each. It was the culmination of a partnership between CIBC and the Lifelong Leadership Institute (LLI).

The LLI’s is an educational organization that exists to inspire leadership, develop leaders and dedicate its resources to advancing leadership competencies and personal success among self-identified Black Canadian youth. LBD is the signature program of LLI, which focuses on nurturing and nourishing leadership skills through opportunities to maximize their potential.

Hackathon is an event set up by a company, or an organization that wants to get a high-quality solution through collaboration between experts. Joshua Tauberer defines it as any event of any duration where people come together to solve problems.

In the case of this CIBC-sponsored Hackathon there was advance preparation that occurred before the one-day hackathon. Each team had to select a theme either one that focused on a non-for-profit (social entrepreneurship) project, or a for-profit entrepreneurship enterprise. The members of each team had to decide on: leadership structure, potential roles, process for assigning names to their project, and the mechanism they use to establish a brand for their enterprise.

Mayple Dorrington, coordinator of the LBD Pursue Entrepreneurship Program, provided information for team members to consider concerning a value proposition. It was highlighted as essential to conduct an environmental scan of the marketplace to identify and understand the target audience’s pain points. This way you will have a clear vision of what you’re solving for. It responds to these four questions:

• What value are you adding?
• What needs are you meeting?
• What problems are you solving?
• What emotions are you evoking or soothing?

Once the teams identified problems that they would be solving they had to utilize Design Thinking as a creative problem-solving strategy to come up with solutions. In the materials sent to team members, it was defined as the interactive process of solving problems that are grounded in empathy for key stakeholders. Empathy is key in order to understand and share the feelings of others, and the stakeholder is every person or thing that is affected by this problem.

I spoke with Trevor Massey, Chair of the LLI, regarding the skills that the LBD

students will utilize during the Hackathon. He is thankful that the CIBC has provided a welcoming and state-of-the art space to these students surrounded by CIBC volunteers that reflect them. Students will be provided with opportunities to develop some of the following skills:

• Collaboration and teamwork
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Decision making
• Persuading and mobilizing others to work toward a defined outcome
• Accountability and responsibility
• Resilience
• Self-confidence

I interviewed Douglas Carter, SVP of Technology of CIBC, and he shared with me how important it was to see parents and students together in one space that promotes excellence on multiple levels. He told me while CIBC has hosted hackathons in the past, this was the first one involving high school students. He is supportive of the hackathon as it provides an environment in which the students can think of a future in banking.

Jomo Russel, Vice-President of Procurement of CIBC, expressed excitement knowing that students are empowered from being in an environment where they have role models and mentors who look like them playing a supportive position.

The opening remarks were made by Dante Ellis, a Grade 12 student and Angelika Bell, a student trustee of the TDSB expressed thanks to the parents and organizers in her closing remarks.