What does a summer of impact look like? For 22 student entrepreneurs, it means transforming bold ideas into real-world solutions. Selected for a competitive summer accelerator, these changemakers are advancing projects focused on mental health, environmental stewardship, educational equity, health education, and financial empowerment. As they spend the summer learning, testing, and refining their ventures, they're proving that innovation and social good can go hand in hand.
For 8 weeks, these fellows will spend 16 hours per week in one-on-one coaching sessions, working independently on their projects, and participating in developmental activities and programs that provide insights into valuable tools and resources, such as workshops, panel discussions and other community events that increase project development and impact. We're excited to see how these students use their $4,000 stipend to achieve lasting impact.
Joyce Arthur, Araba Foundation International
First year Ph.D., International Education Policy
Joyce Arthur recently graduated in Spring 2026 with a Master's degree in International Education Policy from the University of Maryland and will begin her Ph.D. studies in the same program. She is the Founder and CEO of Araba Foundation International, a nonprofit organization advancing access to quality education, gender equality, and youth empowerment in underserved communities in Ghana. As the first female from her rural community to pursue higher education, Joyce is passionate about creating opportunities for young people to thrive. Through Araba Foundation International, she has helped empower over 1,000 adolescents through mentorship, educational support, leadership development, and menstrual health education. This summer, she is working to raise $50,000 to expand the Foundation’s impact, organize a leadership and mentorship conference for 300 young people, and provide back-to-school supplies to vulnerable students in rural communities across Ghana.
Julia Babula, Project Blue Cubs
Masters Student, Supply Chain Management
Project Blue Cubs is dedicated to empowering the next generation of young girls and boys in Eastern India through soccer and sports education. The project works to provide free soccer coaching for young children, host AIFF Blue Cubs soccer tournaments comprising multiple youth teams, sponsor soccer equipment, and partner with professional youth systems to scout and support the children.
Esther Bajulaiye, Health Sense
Senior, Neuroscience
Health Sense is a community-focused initiative that uses personal perspectives on health as a pathway to improving health literacy and preventive health awareness among underserved communities and youth. Through culturally relevant education and meaningful community engagement, Health Sense empowers individuals to better understand the factors influencing their health decisions and take meaningful steps toward improving their well-being.
T-Kea Blackman, Cozy Conversations
Second year Ph.D., Communication Science & Social Cognition
Cozy Conversations is designed to create safe spaces for discussing mental health challenges, including suicide prevention. Rather than a traditional support group circle, participants engage in grounding wellness activities (such as hand-knitting, creative writing, etc.) while navigating difficult conversations. This project aims to partner with youth in the community and a Black student-led college organization to help dismantle mental health stigma, increase mental health literacy, and connect students with meaningful resources.
Esther Bonney, Nurture Natives
Sophomore, Sociology & Landscape Architecture
Nurture Natives is a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to empowering young people through native biodiversity restoration and education. Founded as a local 4-H project, it has grown into one of the nation’s most impactful youth-led environmental initiatives and has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency. To date, Nurture Natives has reached more than 10,000 youth, planted over 2.5 million seeds, distributed 70,000 native seedlings, and shared its self-designed guides to invasive ornamentals and their native look-alikes with nurseries across the East Coast.
Zhouohui Chen, AccessiSlides AI
Second Year PhD Student, Information Science
AccessiSlides AI is an AI-assisted PowerPoint accessibility tool that helps identify, fix, and prioritize accessibility issues in slide decks. It combines automated fixes, smart recommendations, and human review to make accessible presentation remediation faster, more affordable, and easier to scale.
Tanasha Dalton, BMORE Girls
Masters Student, Candidate Nonprofit Management and Leadership Certificate
BMORE Girls is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring, educating, and equipping middle school girls to become bold, courageous leaders through small group mentorship, leadership development, and global exposure. We provide cultural and experiential learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom so girls can See More, Lead More, and Be More.
Giivuii Frazer, African Unity and Restoration Alliance
Senior, Public Health Practice with a Minor in Humanities, Health, and Medicine
African Unity and Restoration Alliance is a community organization created in honor of Paramount Chief Samuel Saffa Ansumana Gbonda II to empower underserved youth in Sierra Leone through education, mentorship, resource accessibility, and community outreach. Through partnerships with schools such as Wanjama Government Secondary School for Girls, AURA works to address educational inequities by providing students with books, school supplies, mentorship opportunities, and long-term community support.
Jake Frischmann, Orbit Infrastructure, LLC
Sophomore, Computer Science & Applied Physics
Orbit is a free academic planning platform that helps college students, especially first-generation and cost-sensitive students, see degree progress, plan semesters ahead, and build conflict-free schedules in one place instead of juggling disconnected campus tools. We're building at the University of Maryland to make confident, timely academic and financial choices accessible to every student.
Shirin Haan, EmpowerHer Health Network
Senior, Chemical Engineering
The EmpowerHer Health Network is building a campus community that bridges the gap between clinical knowledge and peer support for young women navigating major health transitions. The organization provides a safe, open space for educational sessions covering everything from cycle tracking and endometriosis to personal confidence, ensuring no student has to navigate these complex changes in the dark.
Ayah Hamouda, STEM Up
Senior, Information Science and minor in Arabic
Ayah Hamouda is a rising senior majoring in Information Science with a minor in Arabic at the University of Maryland, and currently serves as the Director of Operations for STEM Up, an organization dedicated to empowering girls and young women by expanding access to STEM education and creating pathways for long-term academic success. Through initiatives including mentorship, tutoring, educational workshops, and community outreach, STEM Up works to increase educational equity and create measurable impact by supporting students to drive sustainable change on both the local and global scale.
Amaya Johnson, Pod and Pride
Senior, Philosophy
Amaya is a 2026 graduate and the founder of Pod and Pride, a family enrichment ecosystem that creates spaces and opportunities for parents and children cultivate their habits and health together through fitness, skill-building, and wellness. Pod and Pride is built from Amaya's lived experience as a mom and non-traditional student who struggled to find time and facilities that best honored her commitment to fitness, wellness, education, AND parenting.
Zoya Masood, Every Minute Matters
Senior, Neuroscience
Every Minute Matters is focused on expanding access to comprehensive first aid education for Maryland students. By providing community workshops and evaluating their impact, the project seeks to demonstrate the value of first aid education and support its integration into schools.
Luna Mesfin, Prevent Today, Smile Tomorrow
Sophomore, Neuroscience
Prevent Today, Smile Tomorrow is committed to improving oral health outcomes in underserved communities through preventive education, community outreach, and increasing access to oral health resources. Our goal is to help individuals and families prevent dental disease at early stages and build a healthier future through informed care.
Sharon Ogunseye, The Medical Sisterhood
Masters Student, General Biology
Sharon Ogunseye is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is currently preparing to pursue a master’s degree in physiology while continuing toward her long-term goal of a career in medicine. As the founder of The Medical Sisterhood, Sharon is committed to expanding mentorship, professional development, and healthcare exposure for underrepresented students. Through the Do Good Accelerator, she is working to lay the foundation for The Medical Sisterhood’s transition into a nonprofit organization while developing a Healthcare Careers and Mentorship Symposium and a future Women in Healthcare and Research Conference
Aung Khant Pyae, New Generation Myanmar
Masters Student, Business Management
Following the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, millions of students lost access to education and many Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) teachers lost their jobs, inspiring me to co-found
New Generation Myanmar (NGM), where I currently serve as Co-Founder and Director. Through KG–12, GED, English, language, coding, and other educational programs, along with scholarships and a network of more than 100 educators, NGM has helped thousands of students continue their education while creating employment opportunities for teachers affected by the
crisis.
Maria Stepayan, The Healthy Heroes Challenge
Junior, Management and Public Health Science Double Degree
The Healthy Heroes Challenge is an innovative nutrition education program led by university students that empowers middle schoolers to build healthy habits early in life. Through interactive games, competitions, and hands-on activities, participants learn about nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyle choices in a fun and engaging environment designed to inspire lifelong well-being.
Rida Sukhera, The Yellow Foundation
Sophomore, Neuroscience
The Yellow Foundation is a student-led nonprofit that works to expand access to education and healthcare for underprivileged children in communities with low access to resources. By raising funds and partnering with local organizations, we provide school supplies, care packages, and basic medical resources that directly support children’s learning and well-being. Through community fundraising, youth engagement, and cross-cultural collaboration, the Yellow Foundation empowers students to envision brighter, "yellow" futures grounded in both knowledge and health.
Soliana Taye, Habesha healing
Masters Student, Public Policy and Social Work
Habesha Healing is a culturally responsive mental health initiative focused on reducing stigma and increasing awareness of mental health within Ethiopian and Habesha communities. Through this cohort, I am partnering with a mental health clinic in Addis Ababa to develop youth-focused mental health awareness programming and promote more accessible conversations around emotional wellbeing
Robert Tudor, Threads for good
Masters Student, Neurobiology and physiology
Threads for Good UMD is a student-led organization focused on making clothing more accessible, sustainable, and community-centered on campus. The goal of Threads of Good is to reduce clothing waste, make affordable clothing more available to students, and create events that also connect students with community resources. Through partnerships with other student organizations, including health-focused groups, Threads for Good UMD host events that promote both sustainability and well-being in an engaging, practical way.
Alexandra Veremeychik, MathArtPlay
Junior, Information Science
MathArtPlay is an educational initiative that uses art, play, and hands-on making to broaden participation in mathematics. The aim is to help students see math not only as a subject to learn, but as a way to create, explore, and connect.
Jamie Zheng, Foundit Project
Senior, Computer Science
Foundit is a platform designed to help people reconnect with lost belongings while giving organizations better tools to manage lost-and-found operations. Through improved reporting, communication, and inventory management, Foundit helps increase recovery rates, reduce unnecessary waste, and create more transparent and efficient lost-and-found systems.