Fulbright Canada post-COVID Challenge

History has shown that human ingenuity can carry us through and create an even brighter collective future in times of crisis and tragedy. We are experiencing a time of great opportunity as digital transformation accelerates and the call for social responsibility proceeds.

Given that the current global health crisis is likely to be one of the defining moments for this generation, the Post-COVID Challenge hopes to inspire youth and provide a venue for them to engage in shaping and enriching our collective future. Both local and global initiatives can have a remarkable impact. We are confident that the next generation can take this challenge to new heights and have an incredible impact, especially when they have the appropriate support.

Supported by a generous initial gift from Fulbright Canada Board member Ajay Royan, the Fulbright Canada Post-COVID Challenge is the signature program in Fulbright Canada’s 30th Anniversary. It reflects our commitment to encourage, celebrate, and support the diverse perspectives and unique ideas of bright young leaders. Our goal is to tap into the next generation’s creativity and imagination, with particular attention to underrepresented youth, and provide them with an opportunity to present their solutions to the current crisis and their bold ideas for moving forward.

post-COVID Challenge in numbers

505

appilcations from across Canada and the United States

27

teams invited to participate in the post-COVID Challenge

10

finalists teams travelling to Ottawa, Canada to compete for the $25,000 Grand Prize

Theme: Public Health and Well-being

Muram Bacare - Boston, MA, USA (finalist) They are designing prefabricated high-tech mobile-modular isolation rooms

Claire Carlson, Sydney Prochaska, and Kasra Zarei - Iowa City, USA Their project addresses public health community engagement, preparedness, and needs assessment in Iowa

Naushin Hooda - Richmond Hill, ON, Canada (finalist) PillDrop is a medication waste kiosk re-defining the disposal of unused and expired medications

Rhea Lanier, Kennedy Rasberry, Maya Meade, and Nile Harris - Athens, OH, USA Their project expands on Anti-Racism education in medicine (withdrew)

Josh Nakka and Katelynn Salmon - Palmer Lake, CO, USA (finalist) priceMedic is a tool for uninsured and underinsured consumers to price shop the medical procedures

Katelynn Nguyen and Michelle To - Edmonton, AB, Canada Vivoce is a language learning application for newcomers to Canada

Olenka Olesnycky - Palmer Lake, CO, USA Their project is a mental health platform to close the research to practice gap

Katie Pascavis and Nathaniel Ross - Richmond Hill, ON, Canada VHPO Sterilization Systems is eco-friendly, inexpensive alternative to current sterilization technology

Brennan Tse, Matthew Wang, Cheryl Zhou and Lucas Zou, - Iowa City, IA, USA VaxTrac is a centralized cloud-based database of patient vaccination information for academic

Keerthana Velappan - Cary, NC, USA Get Checked Out is a “health & wellness check” application to offer resources to underinsured individuals (withdrew)

Theme: Digital Transformation

Mohamed Abdalla, Moustafa Abdalla, Sahar Abdalla, and Salwa Abdalla - Toronto, ON, Canada Initiative on Artificial Intelligence is a forum infrastructure that facilitates AI experts, researchers, developers, policymakers, and business leaders

Ravina Anand - Edmonton, AB, Canada FLIK is connecting female-identifying founders/leaders with ambitious verified female talent via meaningful apprenticeships

Vera Cho, Mariko Costantini, Davy Deng, and Chase Yonamine - Los Angeles, CA, USA Project PREPARE is an evidence-based peer support programs to ameliorate healthcare worker burnout during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Nanda Kishore Daggupati and Lavanya Virmani - Vancouver, BC, Canada Their project hopes to tackle youth mental health challenges through “hypercasual” gaming.

Indrayud Biswas Mandal and Payal Sinha - Boston, MA, USA SasTik aims to digitally transform DE&I training at corporates and grad schools by introducing ludic elements and gamifying the process to increase levels of engagement.

Abasifreke James, Kamil Shafiq, and Naba Siddiqui - Toronto, ON, Canada POKET provides a customizable suite of digital tools to researchers and NGOs for empowering community members to contribute in citizen-data-gathering efforts

Vivian Lee, Jacqueline Yao, and William Zhang - Vancouver, BC, Canada Campfire is a real-time, web-based platform for trip-planning research.

Kaiwen Yang - Vancouver, BC, Canada Immersive Healer is creating an interactive and immersive VR platform to support local businesses, museums, and schools who have been impacted by the pandemic

Theme: Social Cohesion and Economic Recovery

Beatrice Castillo-Sahagun, Sheila De La Cruz, Marisela Lozada, and Luz Ramirez-Ramirez - Salt Lake City, UT, USA Latinas in Heath Professions is mentorship program that aims to increase the representation of Latina women in healthcare professions

María Esteban Casañas and Michael Stradley - Boston, MA, USA ELEMENTS is expanding design education through unique learning kits

Kaylah Grant and Anisa Sloan - Riverdale, MD, USA Qommunity is an up-and-coming mobile application designed to help the LGBTQ* community prosper with pride

Theme: Social Cohesion and Economic Recovery

Trisha Prabhu - Naperville, IL, USA ReThink: Conquering Cyberbullying is addressing cyberbullying through patented technology that proactively stops online hate before the damage is done

Connor Schoen and Tony Shu - Boston, MA, USA Breaktime is a Boston-based nonprofit working to end young adult homelessness through purposeful transitional employment and financial empowerment

Emily Wang, Taijah Abotossaway, Alice Walkus - Calgary, AB and Toronto, ON, Canada Wiisinin is addressing food insecurity through virtual cooking lessons to low and working-class BIPOC communities

Jonathan Kong and Natalie Charette - Vancouver, ON, Canada Asian Voices Collective is an immersive digital interactive that follows the experiences of residents of Vancouver’s Chinatown and Japantown through the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots

Roodolph St Pierre, Rose St Pierre, and Emmanuel Sebastien Thomas - Brockton, MA, USA STEAMid deploys machine learning to recommend academic resources to underrepresented high school and college students in North America

Hodan Mohamud - Toronto, ON, Canada BIPOC Youth Hub works to create local community for racialized youth in Toronto

Meet the post-COVID Challenge Mentors

Kelly Burtom

Las Vegas, NV

Dr. Victoria Herrmann

Washington, D.C.

Sydney Pigott Dr. Dunsi Strohschein Trung Nguyen

Toronto, ON

Dannika Thompson