About Southwest MN Hacks
A nonprofit building a technology community in rural southwest Minnesota.
Our mission
Southwest MN Hacks builds southwest Minnesota's student technology community through hackathons, mentorship, and real-world problem solving.
Students in southwest Minnesota are hours from the hackathons, tech meetups, and internship pipelines that students in the Twin Cities take for granted. Distance shouldn't decide who gets to build things. We run free events here, in Marshall, so that a high school student in a town of two thousand can spend a weekend shipping real software beside college students, professors, and working engineers, without their family paying for travel or registration.
What we do
Our programs are free to participants and funded by sponsors and in-kind support.
- Hackathons. Free, beginner-friendly, overnight build events for students ages 14 and up, from high school through university, plus recent graduates. Meals, workspace, and mentoring are included at no cost.
- Mentorship. We recruit computer science faculty and working engineers to mentor teams through the build and to judge final presentations, so students get feedback from people doing the work professionally.
- Learning resources. A free, openly available library of workshops and starter guides for students preparing for their first hackathon, available whether or not they attend an event.
- Real-world challenges. We work with regional employers to put genuine business problems in front of students, and every project stays public in our project archive so students own a portfolio afterward.
Our history
Southwest MN Hacks was incorporated as a Minnesota nonprofit corporation on March 5, 2026, sixteen days before its first event.
March 2026 · First hackathon
Southwest Minnesota's first-ever student hackathon ran on March 21, 12 hours long, with 10 teams drawn from SMSU, SDSU, Marshall High School, and other schools across the region. Every team took on a challenge sponsored by Schwan's Company. The Marshall Independent covered it on the front page.
After March · A team got hired
Schwan's Company invited the grand-prize team to keep developing their project past the prototype stage as a paid engagement.
September 2026 · Second hackathon
Our second event ran September 12 and 13 as a full 24-hour overnight hackathon. 13 teams competed, 12 shipped a finished project, and 3 judges reviewed the submissions. The Marshall Independent covered this event as well.
Every event has a full public recap, including winners, judges, sponsors, and each project teams built. Browse all past events.
Who runs it
Southwest MN Hacks was founded and is run by Bityana Yishak and Tesfatsion Desta, Co-Founders. Nobody draws a salary from the organization. Faculty, engineers, and regional employers contribute as mentors, judges, and sponsors.
Southwest MN Hacks is an independent organization. Our events are held at Southwest Minnesota State University, which provides the venue; SMSU does not organize, sponsor, or endorse them. See our Terms of Service for the full statement.
Organization details
- Legal name
- Southwest MN Hacks
- Status
- Minnesota nonprofit corporation, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- EIN
- 41-4690636
- Incorporated
- March 5, 2026
- Mailing address
- Southwest MN Hacks
1303 Birch St
Marshall, MN 56258
United States
Questions about the organization, or need documentation for a grant or donation? Get in touch.