How Terps Spent the Summer Doing Good

Summer’s a great time to catch up on coursework, earn cash for college or head straight for destination relaxation. For many Terps, though, it's a time to give back.

“It feels so natural to contribute to UMD’s Do Good mission … using knowledge, skills and creativity to serve others beyond academic work,” said Ebenezer Kobina Mensah ’26, who founded the nonprofit Black Stars Wellness Initiative and spent his summer in Accra, Ghana, teaching lifesaving first aid skills to more than 800 youths.

He’s one of many students, faculty and staff who spent part or all of the past few months using their expertise and passion to support people and programs in communities near and far, using their expertise and passion to help others. 

Meet a handful of them:

Associate Clinical Professor Ayanna Baccus: UMD Summer Reading Program
In July, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership faculty member Baccus led UMD’s Summer Reading Program, providing tutoring and literacy instruction to children in kindergarten through middle school. College of Education graduate students and alums taught the children, who also received books to take home each week and met with local authors and illustrators. A partnership between the university’s reading clinic, which prepares teachers and graduate students for positions as reading specialists, and the city of College Park, the program “has been a great experience and allowed us to make stronger connections with children, families and schools," said Baccus. 

Vatsal Doshi M.S. ’25: Tech Turn Up
“Just wrapped up 10 weeks as (Do Good Institute) Impact Intern at Tech Turn Up and honestly didn't expect this experience to hit me the way it did,” Doshi, a master’s student in the Robert H. Smith School of Business wrote on LinkedIn. “I came in thinking I'd be doing some database work and checking boxes for my degree. Instead, I ended up managing marketing for an organization that's actually changing kids' lives through STEAM education. Built outreach campaigns for 100+ schools, created donor databases and even got to sit in board meetings giving strategic input.”

Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub: Research Experiences for Teachers
Mechanical engineering graduate student Andoniaina Randriambololona and materials science and engineering graduate student Boyang Liu flipped the script on a pair of teachers from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt. STEM instructors Karen Bogoski and Mildred Pates have coached thousands of students through challenging engineering projects and chemistry experiments throughout their careers—but this summer, they came to UMD to research efficient and sustainable dehumidification technologies, inspiring them to develop new curricula on sustainable technologies for their classes. Randriambololona and Liu led a team of engineering students who mentored the high school teachers along with Clark School faculty. 

UMD Global STEWARDS: Hyattsville Food Forests
Graduate students in the UMD Global STEWARDS program, part of the Global FEWture Alliance, volunteered at the Hyattsville Food Forests in August, pruning bushes, training berry vines and harvesting figs. These students have a wide range of research interests, ranging from public health to agricultural innovation, and their goal is to help increase food security, make the environment more resilient to drought and improve the mental health of local residents. 

Senior Faculty Specialist Michael Maddox: HydroNet
“I had the pleasure to mentor two students, Amira Tlemsani ’27 and Maria Stepanyan ’26, this summer through the Climate Resilience Network as part of the HydroNet project,” said Maddox, part of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center. The Grand Challenges Grant-funded project uses sensor data on variables like precipitation, wind speed and water levels to understand and provide early warning of coastal flooding and threats to sewage plants and other utilities. “By understanding these relationships, we seek to improve predictions of flooding events and support more effective mitigation strategies for Crisfield and other similar coastal communities.” 

Alizeh Malik M.P.P. ’25: Girls Inc. DC
"I'm passionate about empowering young girls, especially locally, because I’ve seen how much potential they have when given the right support and opportunities,” said Malik. As part of the Do Good Institute's Impact Interns program, she developed a Teen Advocacy Council curriculum to empower girls through advocacy and education on critical issues and conducted research to support program goals. “Working with Girls Inc. showed me that when girls in our community gain confidence, leadership skills and advocacy tools, they’re not only able to dream bigger but also make a real impact." 

Ebenezer Kobina Mensah ’26: Black Stars Wellness Initiative
Mensah, who won the 2025 Do Good Challenge’s leaders track, founded the initiative in 2021 and has trained young people in 18 cities across the U.S. and four in Ghana. “This past summer’s initiative allowed us to scale it in real communities: training young people and local leaders across different tribes.” The goal is to expand health literacy and emergency preparedness, empowering young individuals and communities to respond effectively to health emergencies, especially in rural areas with limited access to health care, he said. “I am proud to represent the University of Maryland in Ghana and make it clear that service and impact from our institution are not limited to geography.”

Cideth Oliva ’25: CompSciConnect and TechStart
The immersive media design and information science double major gave back to the computing community this summer by teaching middle schoolers to code through the CompSciConnect day camp for middle schoolers, helping incoming UMD students with mission-driven projects through TechStart and reviving a student organization that lowers the barrier of entry to programming, called Open Sourcery. "I know firsthand how intimidating programming can feel, but I believe anyone can learn to code, no matter their background. That’s why I’m passionate about lowering barriers and bringing more awareness to the resources that are out there."

Program Administrative Specialist Erica Starnes: The Storehouse
Barnes, a University Human Resources staff member, serves on the executive board of The Storehouse, the nation’s first Black-run food bank. “As a self-funded nonprofit, we serve more than 1,000 families each month through our food drive-through, providing fresh produce and essential support to our community. In addition, we host annual backpack and toy drives to further uplift families in need.”

Associate Clinical Professor Eliza Thompson: Global Perspectives in Serving Learning
For the third year, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences faculty member Thompson took HESP students to her home country of Ghana. She collaborated with the School of Public Health this time, enrolling 12 students in the summer study abroad course that educates communities on the importance of inclusion and training locals to support people with disabilities. “This course not only helps UMD students develop their clinical skills, but also helps them gain cultural competence as they navigate working with different people from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds,” Thompson said. They “engage in community-based service learning to provide parent and teacher training workshops, help dispel stigma about individuals with disabilities, and provide information on autism and other developmental disabilities.”