Bangladeshi Students’ Association
Global Spark – UofT
Global Spark is a student and young professional-led non-profit organization which seeks to inspire the next generation of ideas, solutions, and leaders to make a positive social impact. Global Spark's flagship event is Hack the Globe, an international, multidisciplinary social impact hackathon hosted in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Additional programs include a Social Impact Consulting Program (SICP) which matches undergraduate students with leading non-profits such as Canada Learning Code and Jack.Org to apply their skills towards solving real-world problems.
Key accomplishments
Hack the Globe - Between March 8-23rd, Global Spark hosted Hack the Globe 2025, our flagship multidisciplinary social impact hackathon. In our 7th annual event, we were able to achieve the significant milestone of hosting our second international event, with in-person events taking place in the Boston Consulting Group offices in Toronto, Canada, as well as London, UK. The event was also open to international participants from all over the world to join in a fully hybrid-enabled format. 285 students attended, and teams had 2 weeks for ideation and 40 hours for hacking, before pitching in front of an experienced judging panel.
New Success at the Hackathon - Over the course of the competition, teams had access to various workshops and 1:1 office hours to develop an impactful project and presentation. Teams also received support from 56 mentors with extensive consulting background. The second place team included a UofT student and their solution focused on transforming the second-hand clothing marketplace with an app to be more convenient and accessible, ultimately reducing textile waste. Furthermore, the team selected as the ‘People’s Choice Award Winner’ included 4 UofT students and their solution focused on leveraging AI to provide legal support to migrant farm workers who face barriers against reporting workplace violations.
Social Impact Consulting Program - Currently, Global Spark is running its 3rd Social Impact Consulting Program, where students from the GTA have been selected to work in teams of 4 to tackle a real-world problem faced by an NGO. The student participants will collaborate for 2-3 hours per week over the course of May-July to deliver a solution to the client organization, while receiving direct mentorship from professional consultants, and attending workshops on relevant topics.
CPSIF funding impact
CPSIF funding has been a critical and reliable source of funding for our organization over the last years, and has enabled us to maintain a strong connection with the UofT Engineering community, where we were originally founded. This year, CPSIF funding allowed us to create a fantastic Hacker Dashboard for our Hack the Globe event, which made the experience much more enjoyable for students.
Final Round Judging at the Boston Consulting Group Toronto Office.
Toronto Hack the Globe volunteer / organizing team.
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