Please join us for a hackathon that will help the Mayor's Permitting Accountability and Customer Trust (PACT) team make permitting and customer service simpler, faster and more transparent for everyone!

​The Challenge

​Disconnected systems, complicated rules, and rigid processes have made building in Seattle harder than it needs to be. This slows progress and causes frustration for everyone.

​The PACT Hackathon, or PACT-athon, will envision the use of data and AI tools to help simplify processes, improve teamwork, and focus on what matters—helping people and delivering better results.

​This is the second session in a new series of Community Innovation Hackathons hosted by the City of Seattle in partnership with the AI House. A third hackathon session in November will focus on reimagining the customer service experience for residents interacting with the City with end-to-end support.

You can register by yourself, as part of a partial team, or a complete team. Teams can be 2-5 people.

Thursday, October 9, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

AI House (Pier 70), Seattle, WA 98121

More information: luma.com/pactathon

Convening Seattle’s AI community to build the future of youth services 

Thank you to everyone who came out to the first Community Innovation Hackathon on September 11! We challenged an incredible group of technologists to leverage AI to help us connect teens with the programs and resources they need to thrive.

The day-long Youth Connector Hackathon event kicked off with a press conference where Mayor Bruce Harrell and Chief Technology Officer Rob Lloyd announced the City’s next-generation AI plan, which was shaped by our learnings from the past couple of years of pilot projects to responsibly integrate AI into government.

This hackathon challenge focused on solving a real problem. Information about youth programs and activities are scattered across dozens of agencies and nonprofits, leaving teens overwhelmed when they try to find things to do.

The Youth Connector Hackathon participants were challenged to use AI to break down silos and turn scattered data into a reliable, up-to-date catalog of youth opportunities. All 15 teams submitted impressive projects, but the pitch that took home the first-place prize came from Team PNWe: Zobir Tarin, Ryan Chinn, and Mustaf Egal, all incoming sophomores at the University of Washington.

Read more about the Youth Connector Hackathon and hear from the winning team about their project: Youth Connector Hackathon

What is Youth Connector? 

This year, Innovation & Performance is working with partners at the City of Seattle, youth and trusted adults, parents, and mental health experts in the community to re-imagine how young people connect with resources. Whether it’s mental health counseling, recreation activities, job training, or other programs, the Youth Connector initiative is content strategy that aims to raise awareness of and improve access to the resources youth need to be happy, healthy, and successful.

Creating a User-Friendly Digital Platform for Youth: The City is exploring how we might build a digital solution that brings together mental health, recreation, job training, and enrichment programs all in one place. 

Marketing that is Personal and Powerful: To accompany the digital platform, we are designing a new marketing strategy with a focus on reaching youth who are not engaging in programs.

Learn more: Youth Connector - How Seattle Aims to Transform Access to Youth Programs

Thank you to our Youth Connector Marketing and UX Interns!

What happens when young people are directly involved in building solutions for themselves and their peers? This summer, we had the privilege of finding out by hosting two Seattle Youth Employment Program interns to support our Youth Connector initiative.

Ada Cheng and Tony Hang, our summer Seattle Youth Employment Program interns, led conversations, tested features, and helped us ensure that the final product will reflect the real needs of their peers.

Hear from Ada Cheng and Tony Hang in their own words about their journey, what they learned, and the impact they’ve made on the Youth Connector: How Seattle Youth Employment Program Interns Shaped the City’s Youth Connector

Progress towards making access to public benefits easier and faster for residents

From cutting application times by 80% to an ad campaign that quadrupled website visits, Seattle is making great strides to transform how residents apply for benefits and discounts. At the heart of this effort is CiviForm, a one-stop-shop portal makes applying for multiple benefit programs simpler, faster, and more accessible for all.

Since its launch in 2021, residents have submitted 50,000 benefit and discount applications on the centralized platform. Applications now take an average of six minutes, down from 30 minutes. So far in 2025, the city has onboarded 5 more programs onto CiviForm, including:

• Home Repair Loan Program
• Fresh Bucks Waitlist Application  
• Astound Internet First
• Free Toilets for Low Income Homeowners
• 2025 Trees for Neighborhoods

Learn more about CiviForm and what's coming next for the platform: How Seattle is Making Access to Public Benefits Easier and Faster for Residents