WASHINGTON, D.C. — September 25, 2026 — Rwandan activist Carine Kanimba has won first place at the AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., receiving a $20,000 prize in cryptocurrency for Behind the Jersey, an online platform designed to help sports fans identify entities funding their teams and organize advocacy campaigns.
The award was announced by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which hosted the two-day competition at its headquarters on September 24–25.
According to NED, Kanimba serves as Secretary General of the World Liberty Congress. Her winning project, Behind the Jersey, is described as a centralized platform that helps sports supporters identify authoritarian entities financing their clubs and gives them tools to advocate for change.
First place among 10 international activists
The AI Hack for Freedom III brought together 10 pro-democracy activists from Colombia, Kenya, Nepal, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Tibet, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
NED said the participants worked with teams of software developers and designers to build custom AI-enabled tools addressing challenges they face in activism.
The participants also collaborated with technology company Finite on AI-powered personal assistants and learned how to deploy emerging technologies safely.
Kanimba’s project took the top prize.
According to NED, the winners were:
First Prize — $20,000 in cryptocurrency: Carine Kanimba of Rwanda for Behind the Jersey.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Carine Kanimba Wins $20,000 for “Behind the Jersey” Platform
Sep 26, 2026
Sep 26, 2026
5 min read
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — September 25, 2026 — Rwandan activist Carine Kanimba has won first place at the AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., receiving a $20,000 prize in cryptocurrency for Behind the Jersey, an online platform designed to help sports fans identify entities funding their teams and organize advocacy campaigns.
The award was announced by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which hosted the two-day competition at its headquarters on September 24–25.
According to NED, Kanimba serves as Secretary General of the World Liberty Congress. Her winning project, Behind the Jersey, is described as a centralized platform that helps sports supporters identify authoritarian entities financing their clubs and gives them tools to advocate for change.
First place among 10 international activists
The AI Hack for Freedom III brought together 10 pro-democracy activists from Colombia, Kenya, Nepal, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Tibet, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
NED said the participants worked with teams of software developers and designers to build custom AI-enabled tools addressing challenges they face in activism.
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The participants also collaborated with technology company Finite on AI-powered personal assistants and learned how to deploy emerging technologies safely.
Kanimba’s project took the top prize.
According to NED, the winners were:
First Prize — $20,000 in cryptocurrency: Carine Kanimba of Rwanda for Behind the Jersey.
Second Prize — $10,000 in cryptocurrency: Turkey’s Kadir Yağız Çetin for an offline education platform serving Afghan women and girls who cannot attend school.
Third Prize — $6,000 in cryptocurrency: Tibetan-Canadian activist Chemi Lhamo for a tool designed to preserve evidence of harassment and help activists identify threats.
The remaining participants received $2,000 prizes.
What “Behind the Jersey” is designed to do
NED describes Behind the Jersey as a centralized online platform aimed at helping fans identify authoritarian entities that fund their sports teams and then advocate for change.
The project therefore connects sports sponsorship, political accountability and digital activism in one platform.
Its basic premise is that sports fans can become more informed about who finances the clubs and teams they support and can use that information to organize campaigns or contact institutions.
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The NED announcement does not provide technical specifications about the platform, its launch date, or which clubs and sponsors will be included first.
A project linked to sports accountability
The broader idea behind Behind the Jersey fits into a growing debate over the political use of sports sponsorships and major sporting partnerships.
NED’s announcement does not itself use the term “sportswashing” in describing the project, but it says the platform is intended to help users identify authoritarian entities supporting sports teams and advocate for change.
That makes the project primarily an accountability and transparency tool rather than a sports-news platform.
NED says AI can support activists under pressure
NED President and CEO Damon Wilson said activists around the world are operating under intense pressure but also have access to new technologies that were unavailable only a few years ago.
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He said bringing technologists together with frontline human-rights defenders is important for developing new forms of democratic participation and protection.
NED says it supports the use of what it calls “freedom tech”, including AI tools used to monitor elections, track corruption and human-rights abuses, strengthen democratic principles and help activists operate under surveillance or cyber threats.
Organized with HRF and academic partners
The AI Hack for Freedom III was held in partnership with the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), the AI Freedom Lab at Bitcoin Park, and the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.
The competition focused on practical AI tools designed around the needs of activists from different countries and political environments.
Kanimba’s first-place finish puts Behind the Jersey at the top of this year’s competition and gives the project a $20,000 award to support its development.
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