The Do Good Institute is excited to announce the selection of the 2022 Do Good Challenge semi-finalists. These teams will compete for the opportunity to advance to the Do Good Challenge Finals where they can win a share of more than $20,000 and present in front of a panel of expert judges and an audience of hundreds.
This year's Challenge Finals will be the 10th anniversary of the event; a celebration of all that has been accomplished in the last decade by student teams and a preview of the next decade of student innovators who are taking on humanity’s grand challenges.
A total of 13 teams were selected to advance as semi-finalists, from an impressive number of student teams creating change from across campus. This year’s semi-finalist teams are addressing social issues ranging from early kidney disease detection to menstrual health advocacy, from mental health support to combating opioid overdoses.
Meet this Year’s Do Good Challenge Semi-Finalist Teams
Combating Overdoses in Rural Areas (CORA) is a student-led nonprofit that provides opioid education, resources and harm-reduction to rural communities. With 100+ members spanning eight chapters across the nation, CORA has dedicated more than 5,000 hours of service toward local rural communities; raised and directed $10,000 toward supporting their partnered rural communities; and provided educational materials to 2,000+ community members.
- Kevin Tu, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; University Honors
- Cecilia Hu, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences)
- Umailla Fatima, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, School of Public Policy, Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences)
- Eesha Bokil, Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences), College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University Honors
- Sanjit Sachdeva, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; College Park Scholars (Life Sciences)
Game Changers New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers disadvantaged youth around the world by providing them the opportunity to become athletes. Game Changers donates collected sports equipment to children locally and globally. Since their founding in 2016, Game Changers New York has donated more than 15,000 pieces of sports equipment and funding to more than 35 different organizations in nine countries.
- Sara Blau, Robert H. Smith School of Business; College Park Scholars (International Studies)
Get Ovary It engages in advocacy, outreach and service activities that support their vision of accessible and affordable menstrual health products, services and education as fundamental rights. In collaboration with the Student Government Association, Get Ovary It secured a $48,000 dollar grant and successfully funded free menstrual product machines in 25 bathrooms on campus for the next three years.
- Hope Kahn, Philip Merrill College of Journalism; School of Public Policy
- Zoe Weisberg, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Kesem at University of Maryland is one of more than 130 student-led chapters across the nation that serves families impacted by cancer. Kesem at UMD provides year-long support including care packages, monthly calls and more to children ages 6-18 in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Their flagship program is a free week-long summer camp meant to bring kids of similar circumstances together. With 250+ student volunteers totaling more than 450 service hours over the past four years, Kesem has supported 55 children impacted by a parent’s cancer.
- Jacqueline Quinones, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
- Esha Sunthankar, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Will Lee, School of Public Health
- Talia Hartman, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
- Kayla Whitlock, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Nicolas Egan, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Global Communities
Latina Pathways educates, advocates and fundraises to provide Latina immigrants pathways to success in College Park, Maryland, and beyond. The club focuses on ensuring access to higher education and community development for Latina immigrant youth. Since their founding in the summer of 2021, Latina Pathways raised more than $1,000 for tuition scholarships for Latinx Undocuterps at the University of Maryland, with more fundraisers planned this spring. Having established more than 9 community and campus partnerships and tripling their membership in less than one year, Latina Pathways is also advocating for Maryland immigration laws to be changed, with members supporting legislation that made it to the Maryland General Assembly this past year.
- Emily Eason, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; College of Arts and Humanities; Honors College (Honors Humanities)
Lean On Me College Park (LOM) provides UMD students with non-crisis, peer-to-peer text-based emotional support. Open every day from 2:00 pm to 2:00 am, the textline offers a consistent and convenient service for students who need someone to talk to. Since their founding in fall 2020, LOM has engaged in 350+ conversations with fellow students on campus, consisting of 18,000 texts exchanged in total, with each conversation lasting an average of one hour. More than 50 students have been trained as Peer Advocates, with 34 more currently being trained through their 6-week training program.
- Tesia Shi, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Gemstone)
- Jayda Fomengia, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Gemstone)
North Star Creations develops fun, educational materials and characters for children that can be used to build an emotional intelligence foundation. By using books, dolls, games, puzzles and flashcards, kids can improve literacy, grow their emotional intelligence and encourage early development of mental health awareness. North Star Creations has successfully published its book along with 13 different dolls to accompany the characters. In addition, they partnered with National Alliance of Mental Illness as a Community Partner pledging 1 percent of sales to the cause and donated more than 100 toys to the Marine Corp Toys for Tots program.
- Mathew Parsons, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Peer to Peer is a student-run organization that supports the local refugee population by helping refugee youth integrate into their new communities. Peer to Peer offers UMD student-mentors the opportunity to volunteer at after-school and weekend programming for refugee students in Prince George’s County to improve their academic and social skills through interactive activities and homework support. Peer to Peer’s successful tutoring partnership with the International Rescue Committee has supported more than 150 refugee students from more than 10 countries over the last few years, with impressive results including 100 percent of seniors taking the SAT in 2020.
- Sara Dawood, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Robert H. Smith School of Business; College Park Scholars (Life Sciences)
- Nikki Emamian, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; School of Public Health; Honors College (Entrepreneurship and Innovation)
- Lani Tran, College of Arts and Humanities; College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences)
- Molly Schreier, College of Arts and Humanities; College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Sanketh Andhavarapu, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Robert H. Smith School of Business, University Honors
- Nina Joshi, Robert H. Smith School of Business; Honors College (Entrepreneurship and Innovation)
Repurpose Farm Plastic LLC is designing a small-scale cleaning technology specifically for plastics used in agriculture. Plastic films and tubing are essential for farming, but at the end of the season, most of these materials end up in landfills, burnt in the field or buried in the soil. Repurpose Farm Plastic LLC is creating a process to collect and clean agricultural plastic waste at the UMD farms and beyond. Repurpose Farm Plastic took first prize in the UMD 2020 AgEnterprise Challenge and has been accepted into the NSF I-Corp Program, The Hatchery, and received an $18,000 Sustainability Grant to continue to develop their machine that aims to help recycle some of the 1,600 tons of plastic waste produced by Maryland farmers each year.
- Krisztina Christmon, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
TeleShadowing is a shadowing program open to all pre-health students from the undergraduate, post-baccalaureate and high school levels. As clinical shadowing opportunities have become limited because of the ongoing pandemic, TeleShadowing extends shadowing opportunities to students interested in exploring a career in healthcare across the globe and has impacted 5,000+ students in more than 15 countries. The program has already seen more than 200 students use their TeleShadowing experience as a key part of their professional applications, with that number expected to grow as their reach expands.
- Minahil Cheema, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; School of Public Policy; University Honors
The Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program at the University of Maryland conducts community outreach screenings to prevent the development of kidney disease and expose students to scientific and medical professions within the field of nephrology. KDSAP screenings are intended to educate the community and raise the awareness of kidney disease. UMD KDSAP has hosted a number of kidney health workshops with community partners including the African American Health Program, the Asian American Center of Frederick, and the Community Health Workers group. They also partnered with both the National Kidney Foundation and the American Kidney Fund to host workshops with their corporate partners, and worked with the Maryland State Department of Health to create kidney fact sheets for use in their public health campaigns.
- Debbie Adam, College of Arts and Humanities; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences); Language House Living and Learning Program
- Pali Keppetipola, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Honors College (Integrated Life Sciences)
Vitalize is building the first clinician-centric mobile mental health app and web-based dashboard for hospital leadership. Vitalize has developed a library of 100+ mindfulness meditations addressing the unique challenges of working in healthcare. Vitalize conducted interviews with more than 150 clinicians and hospital administrators to launch a successful beta product that is being tested with more than 100 clinicians through partnerships with Midland Memorial Hospital, Nevada Physician Wellness Coalition, and Lehigh Valley Hospital Network as a start, with interest from other companies such as CareTech, which could reach more than 11,000 social workers.
- Sanketh Andhavarapu, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; Robert H. Smith School of Business; University Honors
WISE Cities, LLC is a female-run startup focused on designing accessible technology to address the issue of social isolation among the elderly. The company's first app allows seniors to form local groups and gives community centers and local businesses the opportunity to connect with this typically hard-to-reach audience. Through the Smart City Challenge, WISE Cities was selected for a pilot opportunity with the City of Fairfax that provides them direct access to a community interested in their service for the benefit of their senior population and local businesses. They have received close to $20,000 in grants, credits, and resources through the Dorm Room Fund, AWS Activate, Google Cloud, and more. The product has been featured on MSN and Patch and have gained support from National Village to Village Network as well as individuals connected through AARP.
- Marie Brodsky, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; ACES Living and Learning Program
- Katherine-Aria Close, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; College of Arts and Humanities; Design Cultures and Creativity Honors Living Learning Community
- Victoria Chai, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences; ACES Living and Learning Program