Policy Hackathon

Ideas for Impact
Final Presentation:  15 February, 2025
Winner Announcement:  15 February, 2025

The Policy Hackathon challenges data enthusiasts, policy experts and innovators to develop evidence-based solutions for climate risk and sustainability issues in India. Winning teams will present their solutions to government officials and receive mentorship from Harvard and ISB experts, with cash prizes of up to $15,000 available for top solutions.

In Partnership with :
Supported by :
2
Tracks
401
Teams
1560
Participants

Analytics Track

Focused on developing a vulnerability index to identify regions most at risk from climate change.

Winner: Team Fields of View

Yashwin Iddya
Chief Knowledge Officer, Fields of View
Sridhar Raman
Programmer, Fields of View
Pranay Karmaker
Quantitative Researcher, Fields of View
Niharika Hari
Programmar, Fields of View
Sukanya Deepak
Designer, Fields of View

Runner-Up: Team Solutionec

Sriram Subramani
Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Solutionec
Lisabeth Jacob
Senior Manager, Solutionec
Chinmoyee Saikia
Manager, Solutionec
Utkarsh Mishra
Lead Analyst, Solutionec

Other Finalists

Team 1
Priyanka Patil
Program Officer, Dept. of Rural Dev. and Panchayat Raj
H P Manoj
Program Associate - Climate and Vulnerability, PRADAN
Archana M
Program Associate - Monitoring, Evaluation, & Knowledge Management, PRADAN
Team 2
Fiona Arora
Student, Ashoka University
Lipika Dey
Professor, Ashoka University
Soumyajit Basu
Student, Ashoka University
Karan Kumar
Student, Ashoka University
Aryan Nath
Student, Ashoka University

Policy Track

Focused on designing innovative solutions for climate adaptation challenges such as equitable water distribution, last-mile extension services, and institutional credit delivery.

Winner: Team Water Beyond Borders

Akin Joseph
Graduate Student, Master of Public Policy & Management,
Carnegie Mellon University
Mitul Jhaveri
Graduate Student, Master of Public Policy & Management,
Carnegie Mellon University
Arthur Spirou
Graduate Student, Master of Public Policy & Management,
Carnegie Mellon University
Nicole Zhou
Graduate Student, Master of Public Policy & Management,
Carnegie Mellon University

Runner-Up: Team Kavi

Kreshanu Koul
Student, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
Vismitha Simha
Student, Indian Institute of Management, Vishakapatnam
Abhijith Raj Urs Ravishankar
Student, Northeastern University

Other Finalists

Team 1
Vaibhava Srivastava
Director, Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Bihar
Gunjan Singh
Officer on Special Duty, Health Department, Government of Bihar
Anshuman
Director, Water Resources Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Suruchi Bhadwal
Director, Earth Sciences and Climate Change Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Jyoti Kumari
Secretary (Information Publicity & Tourism, Civil Aviation, Fisheries & Transport), Andaman & Nicobar Administration
Team 2
Nandini Krishnan
Student, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Rushikesh Jadhav
Student, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Piyush Zaware
Student, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Rohit Meena
Student, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Raghav Mehrotra
Student, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Team 3
Nachiket Midha
MSc in Politics Student, University of Oxford
Ishita Satyajit
MPP Student, University of Oxford
Ho Ting (Bosco) Hung
MPhil in International Relations Student, University of Oxford
Team 4
Suvendu Chand
Co-founder, Action for Policy and Economic Growth
Shivani Parihast
CEO and Founder, Action for Policy and Economic Growth
Shubhangi Raman
Research Associate, Action for Policy and Economic Growth

Meet Our Jury

Vikram Gandhi
Professor, Gerald P. Kaminsky Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Ankur Bansal
Founder and CEO, GDi Partners
Amita Baviskar
Dean, Faculty and Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University
Aarushi Jain
Policy Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business