By Charlotte Ormond
The winner of the 2025 Do Good Challenge, a 13-year-long tradition at the University of Maryland, was announced Tuesday, after all six teams presented their final pitches to a live panel of judges at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.
The Do Good Institute, a program within the School of Public Policy, hosts the challenge to connect students with opportunities to serve communities and drive social impact. This year, the teams were competing for a share of nearly $40,000, double last year’s prize.
Three of the finalists were part of the Founders Track, designed for individuals who created an original organization or initiative from scratch.
The teams included the Black Star Wellness Initiative, which teaches first aid skills to people in Ghana; Dare to Dream, which empowers underrepresented youth; and The Movement Street, which aims to increase volunteerism and fit service into people’s lives.
The other three finalists were part of the leaders track, which consisted of students representing a larger organization.
These included Bitcamp, an organization that hosts hackathons nationwide; Terp Thon, a student-run organization that has raised over $2 million for Children’s National Hospital; and the UMD Chapter of Food Recovery Network, a program that collects leftover food from UMD dining halls and delivers it to communities in need.
The teams competed for a first-place prize of $10,000. They each gave a brief final pitch and answered questions from judges, who then chose a first, second and third place winner for each track.
Juniors Kyle Zibell and Sophia Li, members of the Food Recovery Network, earned first place in the leaders track.
According to Zibell, since 2018, the organization has recovered over 130,000 meals and saved more than $18.4 million gallons of water. With the winning money, they plan to increase the number of meals they recover, spread the initiative to more on-campus events and give back to their student drivers.
Ebenezer Mensah, a doctoral candidate and founder of the Black Star Wellness Initiative, won the first-place prize in the founders track. He stressed the critical need for CPR training in Ghana during his pitch.
“In Africa, it is estimated that cardiovascular disease will overtake infectious disease as the leading cause of death on the continent within the next five years,” Mensah said.
Mensah said he will use the money to invest in more supplies and the construction of more training centers in Ghana.
Lyric Amodia, an MBA candidate at Maryland, is the founder of The Movement Street, which took the third-place prize of $2,500.
Amodia said she has always felt called to a life of service and hopes others can share in the same meaningful experience. Like the other finalists, Amodia has dedicated countless hours to her cause and the Do Good Challenge.
“I found my purpose in service, and I found my community through it,” Amodia said. “I want that to reflect and be replicated in all cities and neighborhoods with that same type of love.”
Takiyah Roberts’s passion for her mission was clear when she became choked up during her pitch, reflecting on the young students she supported in launching their own businesses through her initiative, Dare to Dream.
The Do Good Institute trains students to adopt this same mindset surrounding service, encouraging them to eventually compete in the challenge.
Addison Singer, a sophomore public health science major and student at the Do Good Institute, attended Tuesday’s event and was inspired by the sense of hope in the atmosphere.
“All these people are really passionate about social change,” Singer said. “It’s a really good way to get fired up about service.”
Featured image by Charlotte Ormond, April 22, 2025.