The student-led nonprofit The Movement Street, founded by University of Maryland MBA student Lyric Amodia ’25, has won the "Most Collaborative" award in the 2024-25 Universitas 21 (U21) RISE Showcase & Awards. The project was one of four chosen to receive a $2,000 award from a global pool of 24 projects nominated by U21's international network of 30 leading research universities.
Founded in 2020, The Movement Street addresses America's volunteerism crisis through innovative, accessible, and culturally relevant service pathways. The organization seeks to increase volunteer engagement—especially among historically underserved communities—by making community service feel impactful, joyful, and personal through grassroots events, national chapter models and creative campaigns.
Since Amodia began her studies at the University of Maryland in Fall 2023, The Movement Street has evolved from a regional grassroots nonprofit operating in the DMV area, Flint, and Detroit into a scalable, student-powered movement. In that time, The Movement Street has launched three pilot chapters across campuses and cities, hosted four TMS Assembly networking and skill-building events bringing together over 200 attendees, and trained more than 15 student leaders in nonprofit strategy and community development. The organization has also created a replicable chapter toolkit and national reporting structure to standardize impact tracking across all sites.
With support from the U21 RISE Showcase & Awards, The Movement Street plans to onboard 10 new chapters at universities and community hubs across the U.S. over the next year and develop its digital infrastructure, including a national chapter portal and online TMS Academy for training student organizers.
U21's RISE (Real Impact on Society & Environment) highlights and celebrates student achievement in sustainability and social innovation and is designed to accelerate the scale and impact of student-led projects by connecting them with a network of experts in academia and industry. The Office of International Affairs’ Global Learning Initiatives hosted a campus-wide contest to select the UMD representatives for U21 RISE, awarding The Movement Street additional funding as one of UMD’s two official RISE submissions.
This award continues UMD's strong legacy in the U21 RISE Showcase & Awards, with student-led projects winning U21 awards in five out of the six years RISE has run, demonstrating the university's commitment to fostering innovative solutions to global challenges through student leadership and social entrepreneurship. Learn more about this year’s U21 RISE Award recipients on the U21 website.