Our Story
The story began in October 2021, when Isabella Venancia Gardner (Bella) and Mylène Brown-Coleman founded the first Diversity Committee within the BETA student association, STORM, at VU Amsterdam. In cooperation with Dr. Katja Tuma, the idea of organizing a women-focused hackathon came as a response to encountering racist and sexist comments among classmates and identifying a lack of clear channels for reporting and seeking assistance. Hack4Her was founded to create a supportive and inclusive tech community. Its evolution reflects a commitment to these principles, with each event building upon the last to advance diversity in technology.
The first Hack4Her took place in June 2022, at VU Amsterdam. The event was women-only and attracted 35 attendees. Since then, the number of attendees kept increasing resulting in the opportunity to go national. In 2026 the first event in Eindhoven will take place.
Meet the 2026 TU/e Team
Advisory Board:
Scientific Committee
Our scientific committee members serve as consultants for our challenges, assist in promotion, and help ensure impartial and fair conduct of our hackathon.
Committee Members:
- Mengyuan (Maggie) Zhang , Assist. Prof. at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Ana Oprescu , Assist. Prof. at the University of Amsterdam
- Anna Sperotto , Associate Prof. at the University of Twente
- Jan-Willem Bullée , Assist. Prof. at the University of Twente
- Lavinia Paganini , Doctoral candidate at Eindhoven University of Technology
- Lu Cao, Assist. Prof. at Leiden University
- Mairieli Wessel , Assist. Prof. at Radboud University
- Çiçek Güven , Assist. Prof. at Tilburg University