More than 250 people, including 100 students, gathered at the Naveen Jindal School of Management for a Salesforce public-service hackathon March 3-5.
The event brought students and industry experts together in a collaborative effort to create a system to help a nonprofit manage its financial reporting and fundraising activity. The work done that weekend benefits It’s Going to Be OK Inc., an organization that works to bring awareness, help, hope and healing to those affected by human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
According to CEO and trafficking survivor Dr. Tonya Stafford Manning, Dallas ranks second in the nation for human trafficking cases. She founded the nonprofit 10 years ago. To date, the organization’s workers have rescued hundreds of human trafficking victims. They continue to search for those still trapped, rescue them, provide shelter, medical care, trauma therapy, education, life skills and job training.
The hackathon was sponsored by Thanawala Digital (t.digital, a Salesforce consulting partner). Founder and CEO Moyez Thanawalla is an adjunct professor at JSOM. He was assisted by Dr. Ron Bose, a professor of practice and director of the Center for Information Technology and Management (CITM) at the Jindal School, and by the officers of the UTD Salesforce student chapter. The chapter provides training on Salesforce CRM technology to students and provides opportunities for members to network with industry professionals.
“Our company made a 1 percent pledge, and we agree to donate 1 percent of our time, money and product to benefit others. Small charities often don’t know how to get attention and we are trying to help with that. This event is a new quest for our charity events,” said Thanawalla. “We have been doing them for 12 years and this is the first time we have brought in individuals from companies. The students work side-by-side with team leaders from industry and magic happens.”
In addition to working for the benefit of the charity, the hackathon provided students with the opportunity to meet and network with leaders from a range of companies.
Mohammed Allama Hossain, an MS, computer science student at UTD and a Salesforce developer intern at t.Digital, described the hackathon as amazing.
“Weekends are usually about parties and having fun,” he said. “I attended a ‘working weekend event’ and it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. … It was exhilarating to see everyone from MVPs to students, from VPs to developers, come together, to brainstorm, discuss, debate, propose and develop a solution for Stafford Manning and the IGTBOK team to help support their commendable effort to eradicate human trafficking. In all my years of education, this is the best way I have put my theoretical class knowledge to practical use.”
UT Dallas Salesforce Student chapter leaders Pooja Solanki and Sai Pravallitha Vemireddy worked to organize student volunteers and hackathon participants.
Salesforce provided a free perpetual license for the system that was built in 36 hours by five teams led by experienced professionals from the Dallas Salesforce community. Team leaders were Paul McCollum, Accenture; Shawnee Scesney, t.digital; Navaid Hussain, USAA; Nishchitha Nagaraj, Capital One; and Sunitha Manne, Salesforce, who earned a master’s in computer science from UT Dallas’ Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science in 1994.
They were supported by more than 30 industry volunteers from many companies including JPMorgan Chase and Cognizant.
Ron Bose
“For all those who participated in this event, including UTD students and industry volunteers, this weekend was incredibly impactful at a personal and professional level,” Bose said. “It also allowed students to get visibility to potential employers.”
Ashley Harvell, JPMorgan Chase, took part in the event to so that she could support the nonprofit.
“I also wanted to take advantage of the learning opportunity,” she said. “I’m in marketing and technology so this is a good fit.”
Volunteer and hackathon participant Amana Syeda, who earned a master’s in business analytics from the Jindal School in 2022 and is employed with Cognizant, has participated in other hackathons, but this one held a special attraction.
“I wanted to do this one to learn how Salesforce can be used to help others, so that I can set up similar events,” she said.
Richardson Mayor Pro Tem Janet DePuy read a proclamation commemorating the hackathon when it opened Friday evening. Participants then organized into teams. Work began in earnest Saturday morning, continuing all day and Sunday over a period of 36 hours.
