Hack Club
Hack Club is a global nonprofit network of high school computer programming clubs founded in 2014 by Zach Latta and Jonathan Leung. As of April 2026, it includes more than 1,000 high school clubs and over 100,000 students. It has been featured on the TODAY Show, and profiled in the Wall Street Journal.
This article has been nominated for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether to keep it. This discussion may also result in the article being merged, redirected, or draftified. |
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (April 2026) |
The Hack Foundation | |
 | |
| Founder | Zach Latta Jonathan Leung |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) organization |
| 81-2908499 | |
| Purpose | STEM education |
| Headquarters | Shelburne, Vermont |
| Members | 100,000[2] |
COO | Christina Asquith |
Tech & Creative Lead | Max Wofford |
| Zach Latta, Christina Asquith, Tom Preston-Werner, Quinn Slack, John Abele[1] | |
| Staff | 120[1] |
| Website | hackclub.com  , the.hackfoundation.org |
Hack Club is a global nonprofit network of high school computer programming clubs[3] founded in 2014 by Zach Latta and Jonathan Leung.[4] As of April 2026,[update] it includes more than 1,000 high school clubs and over 100,000 students.[5] It has been featured on the TODAY Show, and profiled in the Wall Street Journal.[6]
History
[edit]
Hack Club was founded in 2014 by Zach Latta and Jonathan Leung. At that time, Latta was a 16-year-old who had graduated from El Segundo High School early and was employed by Yo. Latta would win a 2015 Thiel Fellowship for Hack Club in June of that year, at which point he did not plan on attending college.[4] In 2016, Latta and Leung would be placed on Forbes 30 Under 30 list for education. At that point, Hack Club was in a total of 52 schools, 12 US states, and 5 countries.[7] At the time of a profile of Latta by Business Insider at the end of January 2016, Hack Club had established clubs in the United States, Canada, Australia, India, Estonia, and Zimbabwe.[4]
In March 2020, Hack Club relocated from Silicon Valley to Shelburne, Vermont.[8] In April 2020, the Hack Club facilitated an AMA (Ask Me Anything) between its members and Elon Musk. The event was originally planned to last 30 minutes, but Musk was impressed enough with the participants to allow it to extend for over an hour.[9][10] In 2021, the organization accepted a $1 million donation from Musk. That same year, the organization had clubs in 400 different schools.[8]
In January 2022, Hack Club had over 20,000 students in clubs located in over 22 countries.[11] In July 2025, the number of students jumped to over 70,000.[12]
Organization
[edit]Hack Club consists of several local clubs ran by students in their own schools. These clubs are provided up-to-date curriculum, leadership and community-building training, and software tools by Hack Club.[3][4] The organization provides grants for hardware such as microcontrollers, circuit boards, sensors, or motors. A Slack instance is also provided for all members across different clubs to communicate with globally.[8] Latta has described this methodology as a "club in a box."[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Team - Hack Club". Hack Club. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
- ^ "Hack Club". Retrieved 2026-04-09.
- ^ a b c Shatzen, Christina (2016-08-02). "Hack Club: Empowering Students to Tap Into Their Coding Super Power". Fast Forward. Archived from the original on 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
- ^ a b c d Jackson, Abby. "Meet the 18-year-old who's skipping college to start a club for 'hackers'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
- ^ "Hack Club". Retrieved 2026-04-09.
- ^ Jargon, Julie (2019-10-01). "Teen Hackers Try to Convince Parents They Are Up to Good". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
- ^ "30 Under 30 2016: Education". Forbes. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ a b c Barton, April. "National coding group relocates to Vermont, bringing teens money from Elon Musk". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ "Lost Amid Musk's Tweets, This Amazing Interview With High School Hackers". InsideEVs. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ "Hack Club AMA w/ Elon Musk". YouTube. Hack Club. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ Gaiss, Kevin (12 January 2022). "Shelburne-based Hack Club helps teens get interested in computers". WCAX. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ McMahon, John (4 July 2025). "Shelburne kids coding nonprofit continues to see growth". WCAX. Retrieved 20 August 2025.