Alumna and Small Business Owner Deby Ranft on Building Hackathon Jr

00:00 Hey there. I’m University of Phoenix graduate Dr. Deby Ranft, and I’ll be taking you through a day in my life as a co-founder of Hackathon Jr. 00:07 Our story actually starts in 2017, when I was a doctoral student at University of Phoenix. There, I met my business partners, Dr. Rose Lorenzo, Dr. Katie Pirata and Neil Morados. 00:16 Together, we collaborated to found Hackathon Jr., which I researched for my dissertation. My research examined how hackathons involving young students might encourage computational thinking skills as well as important social skills. 00:24 We translated our school project into a real nonprofit organization and hosted our 16th Hackathon Jr. this past February. 00:33 By tasking students with solving a real-world problem using technology, we help them build crucial skills. 00:41 It has been incredible to see what started as a research project bloom into this kind of event and to see children who begin the day as strangers learn to work together. 00:49 They also build the skills I researched in my dissertation. Everything we do at Hackathon Jr. would not be possible if we 00:56 hadn’t met at University of Phoenix.