Thirteen teams of tech innovators, designers, and diversity thought leaders were challenged to hack bias at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab during the "Breaking the Mold" Diversity Hackathon on Feb. 25.

The conference was organized by the MIT Sloan School of Management, and sponsors and partners included MIT’s Institute Community and Equity Office, IBM, Bank of America, HackHarassment, Intel and American Tower.

Among the competing teams were three participants from the University of Delaware’s Office of Equity and Inclusion: Alexandria de Aranzeta, senior associate director; Jennifer Daniels, associate director of diversity; and Adam Foley, program coordinator.

Approximately 150 participants, team leads and mentors “hacked” scalable solutions to diversity and inclusion challenges in hiring and the workplace, gender parity, racism, bias education, politics, policing, and online harassment. The best hacks could also win across three major categories: Impact, Innovation and Implementation.

OEI staff were assigned to teams that tackled online harassment (de Aranzeta), ethnic name bias in hiring (Daniels), and the gender pay gap (Foley). Teams collaborated intensely all day with industry mentors and developed a prototype solution, which they then pitched to approximately 150 participants, sponsors and judges.

De Aranzeta’s team took home the Impact Award for “Super Friend,” an app that works across social media platforms to notify a pre-selected super friend of harassment and guarantee bystander intervention.

Daniels’ team received the Implementation Award for “Scrub It,” offering a blind hiring solution to combat ethnic name bias during the screening and interview process, and Foley’s team conceived “W.A.G.E,” a matrixed solution for measuring workplace gender equity and manager competency.

De Aranzeta, OEI’s new senior associate director, applauded the hackathon’s action-oriented approach to these critical issues, stating, “It created a space to innovate viable solutions in areas typically suspended in dialogue. And the best part, we problem-solved with teammates of different perspectives with a shared commitment to moving the needle.”

Foley added, “The hackathon underscored the importance of increased dialogue and collaboration across disciplines for a shared vision of diversity and inclusion, within the University of Delaware, and beyond.”

The hackathon brought together diverse skills sets from various professions, including developers, entrepreneurs, academics, social workers and lawyers. Daniels commented, “The hackathon was an invigorating experience that gave exposure to fresh perspectives on diversity and inclusion issues from various fields of work.”

The University’s Office of Equity and Inclusion aims to move the needle forward in campus diversity by providing leadership and support for building an equitable and inclusive working and learning environment for the entire Blue Hen community. OEI is responsible for bias and inclusion education and programming, campus diversity initiatives, affirmative action policies and compliance, and Title IX.