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President's Engagement Prizes

Turning empty spaces into comfortable homes
Truck full of household items

Turning empty spaces into comfortable homes

Since 2018, the President’s Engagement Prize-winning team behind Chicago Furniture Bank has operated full speed ahead—already furnishing 5,500 homes for more than 14,000 people in need.

Lauren Hertzler

Hope and help for wrongfully incarcerated Pennsylvanians
Three women wearing face masks and office dress clothes stand on a pathway with a tree full of pink flowers behind them

Carson Eckhard (left), Sarah Simon (center) and Natalia Rommen (right) won the President's Engagement Prize for Project HOPE.

Hope and help for wrongfully incarcerated Pennsylvanians

With Project HOPE, President’s Engagement Prize winners Carson Eckhard, Natalia Rommen, and Sarah Simon will address the lack of support to wrongfully incarcerated people in Philadelphia and across the state.

Kristen de Groot

Empowering refugee communities with access to clean water
Leah Voytovich and Martin Leet in front of college hall while wearing masks

Empowering refugee communities with access to clean water

With project Maji, seniors Martin Leet and Leah Voytovich will use their President’s Engagement Prize to install a solar-powered water tank and provide agricultural and first aid training for members of the Olua I community.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A pivot, from financial literacy to restorative justice
Mckayla Warwick and Kwaku Owusu wear face masks while walking down a street in West Philadelphia.

A pivot, from financial literacy to restorative justice

Collective Climb won a 2020 President’s Engagement Prize as a West Philadelphia-based financial literacy project, but shifted their focus to engage with young people around the issue of community violence.

Kristina García

Increasing access to life-saving, unused medicines in India
medication lines in india People wait in line at the pharmacy purchase point, at which medicines can be purchased by anyone.

Increasing access to life-saving, unused medicines in India

Aarogya, a social-enterprise organization, is led by three President’s Engagement Prize winners. Since receiving the award, they’ve started delivering otherwise-unused medicines that save lives and money.
The impact of providing hands-on, interactive projects
hand using a circuit board

The impact of providing hands-on, interactive projects

With inventXYZ, President’s Innovation Prize winner Nikil Ragav has created a high-tech curriculum for high school to motivate future problem-solvers.

Dee Patel