Ever since he was young, Vivaan Vora (‘25) had a passion for programming. His interests in computers and software inspired him to create the Bay Area Hacks Society, a non-profit organization that tutors and hosts hackathons for hundreds of participants. 

“I started learning programming concepts when I was around 10 years old. In the past half decade or so, I’ve learned the importance of computer science through projects and developing skills that are necessary when pursuing a career in computer science,” said Vora. 

Turning a vision into reality

Founded in August of 2022, Vora created Bay Area Hacks Society for people interested in computer science. The goal was to create a space that fostered collaboration and mutual encouragement to strengthen programming skills. 

“The purpose of this organization is to spread knowledge about computer science with students around the world, and for them to create interest in pursuing a computer science related career,” said Vora.

Vora’s coding knowledge gave him the tools to turn his initial vision into reality. Today, Bay Area Hacks Society is growing steadily under his leadership. 

“Vivaan is great at what he does because he has a passion for programming. His leadership skills can be seen through Bay Area Hacks Society’s success,” said Vaibhav Pradeep (‘25), a member of Bay Area Hacks Society. 

Although Bay Area Hacks Society is a new organization, it immediately saw massive achievements. With 250+ active members in the community, Vora has welcomed people of all skill levels.

“There aren’t any specific requirements to join. Anyone is welcome and that’s the special thing. The program is open to everyone,” said Pradeep.

Building a community

Although Vora has been successful, building a large audience of computer science enthusiasts wasn’t always easy. In order to grow his audience, Vora promoted Bay Area Hacks Society rigorously through constant local and global marketing. 

“We have marketed a lot through many social media platforms, which include Instagram, LinkedIn, NextDoor, Discord, and more,” said Vora. 

Currently, Vora and his organization is working on a hackathon called Bay Area Hacks. This event will last from February 18th to February 20th, with hundreds of participants, members, mentors, judges, and sponsors who will be involved by supporting or participating in the event.

“Bay Area Hacks is designed for students around the world to come together to collaborate and compete at a competitive programming event, so there’s no experience required to be eligible to participate,” said Vora. 

Future plans

Beyond hosting hackathons, Vora hopes to expand Bay Area Hacks Society into a worldwide organization. His goal is for many people to use his platform as an interactive community for computer science. 

“The future plans for the Bay Area Hack Society includes tutoring students worldwide. [We plan to teach] everyday programming languages that are crucial for those interested in pursuing the field of computer science. We’re planning to offer many core programming languages commonly seen in the computer science industry, for example Python, Java, HTML/CSS, C++ and other programming languages,” said Vora. 

In addition to tutoring, Vora also hopes to host new, unique events that challenge participants and create an interactive learning experience. 

“We will continue to host events like these. We expect our numbers to grow in the coming months as the field of computer science has such a demand, especially in the primary zones such as the Bay Area,” said Vora. 

In the future, Vora plans to pursue a career in computer science, but his work with Bay Area Hacks Society won’t be ending with high school.

“I started learning programming just to try something new and I never knew that the skills I would develop would help out so much in the future. Creating projects and innovating new ideas has just been something that is an enormous interest in my life,” said Vora.