London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

14-year-old girl takes the lead in organising Hong Kong’s first global hackathon

14-year-old girl takes the lead in organising Hong Kong’s first global hackathon

Nicole Lee, a Year 10 student at West Island School, is the youngest organiser chosen by London-based Teens In AI, the group that oversees the event.

A global hackathon aimed at inspiring girls and young people from underrepresented communities to enter the world of artificial intelligence is set to take place in Hong Kong for the first time later this month.

The city is among 25 locales around the world to hold hackathons to celebrate International Women’s Day. It will be a huge undertaking for any organiser, but 14-year-old Nicole Lee Hong-ying believes she is up to the task.

Lee is the youngest organiser selected by Teens in AI, the group that oversees the event. It seeks to create opportunities for underrepresented talent through mentoring, workshops and hackathons for people aged 12 to 18. Lee, a Year 10 student at West Island School, jumped at the chance to bring the event to her hometown and to inspire other girls to get into her favourite subject.

“At first it was intimidating to think I was the lead organiser at only 14 years of age. It was hard to balance time between school and planning the hackathon,” said Lee, who stayed up until 1am most nights sending emails communicating across time zones.

The founder and CEO of Teens in AI, Elena Sinel, who is based in London, said while the organisation had been supporting Lee, the teenager had also been the driving force behind the process.

“We decided if she would like to try, now was a really good time. Organising a hackathon is not easy but … it teaches you incredible skills, like leadership and organisational capabilities,” Sinel said.

Lee contacted hundreds of local and international schools and invited them to take part in the event. Around 44 participants from a mix of schools have signed up to take part so far.

An event by Teens In AI in France.


A hackathon gathers people with a diverse set of skills, from programming to design, to solve a real problem within a limited amount of time. The virtual event will be held between March 13 and 21.

The challenges are aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and participants are required to identify a problem they experience in their communities and use artificial intelligence and data science to solve it.

Lee said inspiring other girls to love coding as much as she did would bring more diverse solutions to the male-dominated technology sector.

“When you embrace and empower more people to be in the innovation sector, it gives them a chance to create something new and improve our society for the better,” she said.

As well as recruiting participants, Lee has found mentors supporting the event and mobilised her mother, Kennix Chim, a former journalist, to help search for companies that might like to take part.

Two local partners are online learning platform BSD Education and non-profit innovation group Makerbay, which will provide mentors and prizes for the event. Other supporting organisations are the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Hong Kong Association for Computer Education.

When Justina Ho, the chairwoman of IET Hong Kong, discovered that a 14-year-old was leading the event, she was worried about the challenges the teenager might face.

“We were ready to step in to help, but she is doing perfectly fine. We were totally amazed,” said Ho, adding the IET would be providing mentors for the event.

Teens In AI seeks to create opportunities for underrepresented talent through mentoring, workshops and hackathons among people aged 12 to 18.


Ho has worked in the field for 20 years and is passionate about STEM – the collective term for the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The organisation’s STEM 4 Girls Programme has about 80 to 100 girls who take part every year.

There is no official data available on the percentage of women workers in the technology sector in the city, but Ho said from their research it would be about 20 per cent, which correlates with global figures.

Ho said trying to encourage women and girls to pursue technology could be difficult, as either they were not sure what engineering was, or their parents or teachers got in the way, assuming it was only an industry for men.

“In Nicole’s case, because she is the one taking the lead on this programme, it is a young girl telling other young girls they can do it. That is a strong statement.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×