Can you believe another successful hackNY summer has gone by? We hope you all are enjoying the last bits of summer and also got the chance to see the PIL fellows present their projects at the Recurse Center earlier this month! Here are some important updates happening at hackNY.

❗ New Board Member

We are excited to announce that Daeil Kim has joined the hackNY board!

Daeil Kim is currently co-founder and CEO of AGD Labs, a NYC based startup focusing on enabling general dexterity in robots. Before this he was an org lead at Meta Reality Labs where he helped lead VR/AR efforts. Previously, he was the founder & CEO of AI.Reverie, a synthetic data startup that was acquired by Meta and before this a senior data scientist at the New York Times. He received his Ph.D in Computer Science at Brown University and a liberal arts degree at Sarah Lawrence College. A lifelong New Yorker, he is deeply interested in the promise of AI and its potential to enable human thriving.

We are so excited to have Daeil on the hackNY Board. Welcome, Daeil!

❤️ hackNY Public Interest Lab: Summer 2026 Demo Day Recap

This month marked a major milestone for the hackNY community: the very first-ever Public Interest Lab Demo Night!

On Saturday, August 8, our inaugural cohort of Public Interest Lab fellows, alumNY, community members, and partner organizations gathered at the Recurse Center in Brooklyn to celebrate a summer’s worth of building, learning, and tech for social good.

What We Celebrated

Since announcing the Public Interest Lab back in March, our fellows have collaborated closely with grassroots organizations and no-profits to tackle real-world challenges. The evening kicked off included lightning talks showcasing impactful projects developed alongside incredible partner organizations:

• Prospect Heights Community Farm

• East Harlem / El Barrio Community Land Trust

• Bronx Tech Hub

• Union of Pinnacle Tenants

• Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

• Worth Rises

Following the presentations, attendees enjoyed a community mixer over Dig Inn dinner.

You can see photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/encpjiyjXw8eFaJE9 and a recording https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJyfE7i956fNpa3ktJLVmrF7Izzd9JsH/view

Stay Connected

A huge thank you to our program directors and facilitators, alumNY mentors, recurring alumNY donors, anonymous donors, the Recurse Center for generously hosting us, and everyone who came out to support the inaugural cohort, whether joining live in Brooklyn or tuning in via Zoom!

Want to get involved? Stay in touch with the team at pil@hackny.org to receive updates about the next cohort, upcoming events, and announcements from across the public interest technology space.

Please welcome Daeil onto the board and congratulate our newest alumNY on an amazing summer!

Love,

Gloria and Andrea