Polkadot México is proposing a 4-month structured education initiative targeting university developers in Mexico. We will produce Spanish-language technical content for the ecosystem, deliver an 8-day in-person workshop at a top Mexican university, run weekly online sessions with active developer communities, and close with a 48-hour hackathon with a $5,000 USD prize pool. Total ask: $43,717.62 USD, paid in milestones.
Why Now?
The bounty closures and the ecosystem's shift toward Products for People created a real gap in LATAM particularly for Spanish-speaking developers who represent the largest untapped region for Polkadot by native language. While we were quiet during that transition, we were not idle. In July 2025, we ran a workshop at Universidad del Valle de Puebla (UVP) titled "The Future is Web3 and It's Built with Polkadot", co-organized with GDG Puebla. 40 students showed up to a computer lab, worked through practical exercises, and left 40 forks on the GitHub repository:
github.com/BrandonFilth/Polkadot_Workshop 28 commits, hands-on exercises, full workshop materials.
That event is the proof of concept for everything we're now proposing to scale.
On the competitive side: Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and Monad are all running structured in-person initiatives in Mexico right now Stellar House CDMX, Monad Blitz CDMX, Solana APEX, Ethereum México. Polkadot has no equivalent answer in the region. Every month without a structured presence is ground ceded to other ecosystems.
We are looking to propose a major initiative
1. Spanish-Language Technical Content Hub
A dedicated website hosting all program materials: module slides, lab guides, video tutorials (5–8 per module in Spanish), interactive guides, and evaluation tests. Think OpenGuild for Latin America one permanent reference point for the Spanish-speaking Polkadot community. The content will remain publicly accessible long after the grant ends.
Note: All content will be created organically by us, without using AI to generate the material itself. In today's era of Artificial Intelligence, AI-generated content is losing value with audiences. We will use AI to automate workflows or create tools that help us generate value in the right way.
2. Three Technical Modules
Module 1: Smart Contracts on Polkadot
EVM vs PVM (RISC-V), Dual VM Stack, Solidity via REVIVE, Remix/Hardhat/Foundry deployment, Paseo Testnet, XCM precompiles from Solidity.
Module 2: Polkadot as a Cloud Computer (Fundamentals)
Web3 and digital sovereignty, Polkadot architecture, DOT tokenomics, wallets and transactions, Agile Coretime (Bulk vs On-Demand), OpenGov.
Module 3: Parachains, JAM & Advanced Development
Polkadot SDK runtime architecture, Coretime and parachain deployment, Elastic Scaling, JAM Protocol, RISC-V as JAM's VM, PAPI (TypeScript API for DApps).
3. Online Community Sessions
Weekly sessions (2/week) delivered together with Pasho a Polkadot hackathon veteran (Sub0, LATINHACK) and co-founder of Devs + AI, a growing developer community built by Brandon (Polkadot México) and Pasho that is onboarding web2 developers into AI-assisted development. This is the community where we find developers in the process of exploration and can guide them to learn about Polkadot and build projects on the network.
4. 8-Day In-Person Workshop at a Mexican University
Target: Tecnológico de Monterrey or UNAM. Daily 3-hour sessions covering all three modules (24 total hours), with async Discord support between sessions. Students who complete all 8 days receive:
5. 48-Hour Hackathon
Held at the university at the close of the workshop series. Participants build real products on Polkadot or Kusama, focused on solutions for LATAM users. $5,000 USD prize pool distributed across 6 places (USDT/USDC on Polkadot Asset Hub). Projects tracked via Notion/Taika. Full professional photo, video, and live coverage.
Our Team
Erick Ramos: Project Director & Coordinator (Educational Support).
Brandon: Blockchain Developer / Senior Technical Instructor (EVM, Polkadot SDK).
Javier Eli: Technical Support / Facilitator Instructor (Vara Network hackathons experience).
Armando Castro: Instructional Designer / Content Creator.
Amaury Lopez: Community Manager / Communications.
Rodrigo: Events & Logistics Coordinator.
We've spent years building the Polkadot community in Mexico. We participated in Talent Land 2025, the largest technology event in Latin America, and maintain active relationships with academic directors at universities and emerging local communities. However, we wanted to take this step after the Sub0 event in November, but the sudden change slowed us down for a while to assess the Polkadot ecosystem. This initiative aims to successfully implement the Spanish-speaking community, and in Mexico, we can be an example for all of Latin America. We're not just looking to hold meetups or events like those done before, but rather to implement an educational plan to attract new talent and retain them at Polkadot.
Payment structure: Milestone-based. Monthly reports in OpenGov. Operational expense receipts and invoices provided for all purchases. Any unspent surplus returned to the treasury.
Our work won't end in four months, as we'll keep the community active remotely and carry out online initiatives with universities, but we need to adapt content focused on the region and at the same time the website will help us to boost a new Spanish-speaking community.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, and feedback. Our channels are open for anyone in the community who wants to collaborate, audit, or contribute to this initiative.