The University of Maryland is proud to announce two student-led projects – SEWING and The Movement Street – as its representatives for this year's Universitas21 (U21) RISE Showcase and Awards.
U21's RISE (Real Impact on Society & Environment) is an international showcase of student achievement in sustainability and social innovation. It is designed to accelerate the scale and impact of student-led projects by connecting them with a network of experts in academia and industry.
"It can be difficult to take a social enterprise or innovation idea beyond small-scale, local implementation, into something bigger," the U21 team noted on their website. "RISE helps students realize this goal for their projects by giving them access to a global audience of potential supporters."
As UMD's representatives, each student team will create a video to pitch their project to potential international collaborators. U21 will review submissions from institutions across its international network and announce awards by July 2025. Those selected projects will be eligible for additional funding and guidance.
Each year, RISE welcomes network members to submit projects that focus on addressing global challenges, as outlined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. UMD is one of 30 members of the U21 network, which brings together research-intensive universities from six continents to share knowledge, learning and perspectives. To select the UMD representatives for RISE, under the banner of Maryland Global, the Office of International Affairs’ Global Learning Initiatives (GLI) hosted a campus-wide contest.
As winners of the UMD contest, in addition to serving as UMD's RISE representatives, these projects also each win $1,000 in total funding from GLI.
U21 RISE Nominees
SEWING tackles gender-based labor exploitation in Ghana by equipping at-risk girls with sewing, tailoring, and entrepreneurship skills. Through a comprehensive fellowship program, SEWING promotes climate consciousness by upcycling fast fashion waste while building community resilience through local mentorship.
Project leader: Zehra Syeda ‘28, Bioengineering
The Movement Street addresses America's volunteerism crisis by creating accessible pathways for civic engagement in historically marginalized communities through in-person service events, virtual opportunities, and service-driven apparel that transforms one-time volunteers into lifelong changemakers.
Project leader: Lyric Amodia ‘25, MBA