About Us
What is Code Switch?
Code Switch is a free, two-day civic hackathon in which community members, designers, project managers, programmers, and people who just want to learn, collaborate intensively on projects that change our community. Great solutions are born when innovators from the community lead the development process—from ideation to launch.
This is an chance for engaged citizens to work with coders and designers (and learn to code) to leverage technology to disrupt the gaps and inequities that have had an impact on Minnesota.
We’ve learned that teams with people from different backgrounds come up with REALLY cool ideas. You will join other people on a team to come up with an idea on a web or mobile app that helps solve a pressing problem in a your community. Here are some example outcomes of potential projects:
- An app that helps people find affordable housing
- A get out the vote plan for your neighborhood
- A website for discovering high performing schools
- A service to locate nearby job openings
- An interactive map that shows neighborhood living costs and economic opportunities
Why Participate?
Disrupting Inequity
In Minnesota, we take pride in our belief that all people have opportunities to become successful. We also know that our future as a state depends upon the strength and well-being of all who live here.
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Data shows that Minnesota has some of the largest gaps and inequities in the country; and some members of our community are:
- More likely to live in poverty
- Less likely to graduate from high school
- Less likely to own their own home
- More likely to suffer from chronic illness
Reducing income and racial disparities is key to maintaining a strong workforce. While the root causes of disparities lie in historical experiences of oppression and exclusion, many gaps illustrated by current data can be explained by insufficient income, unhealthy environments, and inadequate access to opportunities. We can address all of these.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Code Switch provides an opportunity for the community to come together and discuss disparities across important quality of life topics such as education, housing, transportation, healthcare, etc. We hope to gain a broader understanding of the issues we face and use objective data and technology to co-create solutions that will lead to a higher quality of life for all Minnesota’s residents.