HPAIR Harvard Conference 2025: Scholarship Application

HPAIR seeks to foster long-term relationships among young leaders from around the globe. Describe a situation in which you were a leader. What challenges did you face? Maximum 200 words

As the Founder and CEO of Open Community, bringing together over 150 AI developers from more than 10 countries, I faced significant leadership challenges.

From October 5th to 6th, the NASA International Space Apps Challenge was held locally in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The winners of this event will advance their projects to the global competition.

I participated with four girls. Believe it or not, I faced many challenges.

Firstly, I had my university midterm exams just before the hackathon. It was hard to decide whether to participate. But I chose to join and lead the team. I wanted to show the world that girls are also good at coding, like Ada Lovelace.

Secondly, selecting a single idea was tough. We had different backgrounds. Two girls, Fatima and Zukhra, were AI Engineers. Kamola was a Mechanical Engineer, and Oydin was a Storyteller and Speaker. During brainstorming, everyone liked different ideas, making it hard to agree on one.

Thirdly, we changed the project structure three times. I divided the tasks and quickly built MVPs. Then, we consulted with different mentors. Based on their feedback, we made the final decision for our project.

Our hard work paid off. We won the hackathon. *Girls power!

Tell us about a time where you had to work on a team. What worked well? What were some challenges you faced? Maximum 200 words

I participated in the Huawei Seeds for the Future 2024 Program and joined a team of seven students from different universities. Our first challenge was finding a common language due to our diverse backgrounds. We entered the Tech4Good competition, aiming to create something impactful.

We brainstormed many ideas and decided on building AI-powered hybrid filtering systems to reduce emissions in bioenergy plants. This system combined ESP, nanofiber-based filters, and wet scrubbers, using AI to optimize performance and enhance sustainability. However, after four days of research and sleepless nights, we realized it would take too much effort and be costly.

Believe it or not, with only two days left before submission, we decided to change the project. I suggested creating a tool for doctors to help their patients, drawing from my interest in neuroscience. At around 1 a.m., too late to sleep, we all gathered in one of our friend's rooms because the hotel had closed all common areas. Everyone with their laptops in different spots in that small room—we felt like we were building the next startup in a garage.

Those last two days were intense but fun. We successfully submitted our new solution.

What is an issue that you're passionate about solving? How have you contributed to solving this problem so far? Maximum 200 words

I am a curious human being, but my greatest passion lies in education. I believe we can shape the world by educating Gen Z. I love sharing my knowledge and mentoring youth. I have served as a mentor and facilitator in organizations like LabLab.ai, Nobel PBC, The Earth Foundation, Moonshot Pirates, AI/ML API, and Open Community. So far, I have mentored over 200,000 developers, including youth and professionals, guiding them through technical and practical challenges.

My contributions to open-source projects, such as Anarchy Labs (477+ stars) and Langflow (31.2K+ stars) on GitHub, have reinforced my belief in the power of collaborative learning and development. Inspired by open-source development, I founded Open Community—the largest space where young and professional developers collaborate to build AI-powered open-source projects and tools. By integrating open source into education, we empower individuals to learn, create, and innovate together. So far, we have won multiple hackathons and challenges, built over 12 open-source projects, and home for over 150 passionate builders.

For scholarship applicants only: Describe a time when you held an opinion and something or someone changed your perspective on it. What was that issue and what did you learn from that experience?

After participating in over 60 hackathons without a single win, I began to doubt the value of my efforts. Each event ended with the same phrase on a certificate: "Thanks for active participation." When the NASA International Space Apps Challenge was scheduled in Tashkent, I hesitated. My university midterms were approaching, and I feared another disappointment. However, I decided to participate, assembling a team of four talented girls to showcase that women are equally proficient in coding and problem-solving.

Our journey was challenging. Our diverse backgrounds made it difficult to settle on a project idea, and we revised our approach multiple times. On presentation day, we delivered our pitch confidently but received the familiar participation certificate. Convinced we hadn't won, I wanted to leave, but Kamola urged us to stay for the final announcement. Hm, ok.

To our astonishment, our team secured second place. Had we left earlier, we would have missed this monumental moment. This experience taught me the dangers of letting past failures dictate future expectations. I learned the importance of perseverance and approaching each new challenge with a fresh outlook. Now, I encourage others to persist and remain open to the possibilities that each new opportunity brings.

Interview questions:

  1. Could you tell me about yourself?
  2. Biggest challenge in the hackathons? (because i talked about hackathons before)
  3. Tell me the place where you gained bigger knowledge. (i talked about my work at Souk startup)
  4. Why do you want to attend the HPAIR conference?