Oct 22, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Lincoln Financial Group’s Fifth Annual Hackathon-Style Event Benefits North Carolina Nonprofits

Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE:LNC) partnered recently with North Carolina college students for codeLinc, the company’s fifth annual hackathon-style event in which teams competed to develop applications to help improve operations and efficiency for several local nonprofit organizations.

The 24-hour event, held October 6-7, included students from North Carolina A&T (NCAT), North Carolina Central University and UNC Greensboro (UNCG). Nonprofit groups NC Serves, The Servant Center, Valor & Honor Outdoors, and Guilford Apprenticeship Partners also participated. Each is committed to serving the nearly 800,000 veterans who live in North Carolina by connecting them to housing, jobs, food and health services. The challenge for this year’s event focused on helping these organizations overcome a variety of technology and communication issues.

“Fundamentally, codeLinc is about making a difference in the community,” said Ken Solon, chief information officer and head of digital for Lincoln Financial Group. “Participants have an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to our non-profit partners by creating solutions with lasting results. In addition, this event is a launchpad for students interested in an IT career at Lincoln.”

Student teams worked with volunteer coaches from Lincoln’s IT organization to deliver a working prototype within 24 hours. “My organization serves veterans and active-duty military personnel, many of whom need important services like emergency counseling. But often, it’s difficult for them to understand their options or to locate specific services that are available to them,” said John Perez, Valor & Honor Outdoors founder. “The applications developed during codeLinc will help make services easier to understand and locate, making sure these servicemembers get the support they need when they need it.”

The first-place team, HeisenNerds, from UNC Greensboro, focused on streamlining the process for veterans accessing services in North Carolina. They designed a mobile application, specifically for veterans returning to civilian life, that simplifies the retrieval of information when accessing multiple health and human services. Additionally, the application was designed so that veterans can maintain their anonymity when seeking help.

Second and third place teams from NCAT and North Carolina Central University also focused on coordination of services with innovative features like a chatbot tool and a stress alert signal that allows people to immediately connect with family members and services when experiencing a crisis. Each winning team was awarded a cash prize – and Lincoln’s IT organization will continue to work on the prototypes to turn them into a fully functional application for coordinating services for veterans on a secure platform.

“codeLinc is a win-win-win for our students, volunteers and community,” said Nancy Rogers, senior vice president for Corporate Social Responsibility for Lincoln Financial Group. “The students were genuinely invested in developing something that would benefit our veterans, and the Lincoln volunteers provided valuable coaching and guidance to help them through the process. Working around the clock, the students made a difference by providing our nonprofit partners with technology to better meet the critical needs of veterans. And Lincoln staff had an opportunity to contribute to a good cause while working closely with some very talented prospective employees.”

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help empower people to take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, as well as to guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its affiliates. The company had $256 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2018. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen and was named one of the Forbes Best Employers for 2018, is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America, and received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at http://newsroom.lfg.com. Strategic Wealth Partners is a marketing name for registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer and a registered investment advisor.

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