Inaugural Social Impact Challenge a Success!
The Moritz Center Social Impact Challenge debuted on September 19, 2025—and it was unforgettable! Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
Meet the 2025 Social Impact Challenge cohort
We’re so excited to highlight the four incredible teams from this year’s Social Impact Challenge. Thanks to the generosity of the Moritz family, all teams will receive $5,000 in funding to bring their projects to life. Stay tuned for updates on the funded projects!
Teaching Story, Stigma, and Mental Health Narratives in Prison
Charlotte Perez and Jo Hurt (COLA)
C.H.E.F.S: Culinary and Healthy Education for Fueling Students
Lauren Bell and Madilyn Bradley (College of Natural Sciences)
Cultural Healing Through Story, Song, and Symbol: Exploring Arts-Based Pathways to Behavioral Health in Asian and Asian American Communities
Cheng Chow (Social Work) Hannah Kim (Moody)
LetraLight: Empowering Bilingual Literacy and Well-being
Raquel Silva, Shirley Souza, Cinthia Herrera, Hanyue Sha (College of Education)
Our wonderful judges recognized two teams for the $5,000: Cultural Healing Through Story, Song, and Symbol: Exploring Arts-Based Pathways to Behavioral Health in Asian and Asian American Communities – Cheng Chow (School of Social Work) and Hannah Kim (Moody College of Communication) and Teaching Story, Stigma, and Mental Health Narratives in Prison – Charlotte Perez and Jo Hurt (College of Liberal Arts), which was also named the Audience Favorite!
Cultural Healing Through Story, Song, and Symbol
Cheng Chow (School of Social Work) and Hannah Kim (Moody College of Communication)
Teaching Story, Stigma, and Mental Health Narratives in Prison
Charlotte Perez and Jo Hurt (College of Liberal Arts)
Thank You Judges!!
- Gabriela Kane Guardia, Executive Director of Latinitas
- Bavu Blakes, Poet, Educator and Scholar Emcee
- Courtney Santana, Vocalist and Community Advocate
- Travis Foster, Artist-in-Residence at UT School of Social Work
- John Peyton, UT Lecturer in Radio, Television and Film
Thank you community partners for supporting our student teams
Social Impact Challenge
Meet the Mentors
Each team received expert guidance as they refined their pitches in preparation for the live pitch event on September 19. A huge thank-you to our incredible mentors for generously sharing their time and expertise!
Danielle Parrish, Ph.D.
School of Social Work
Professor; Associate Director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT)
Parker Hudson, MD, MPH
Dell Medical School
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine; Courtesy Associate Professor, Department of Population Health; Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency; Associate Chair of Education, Department of Internal Medicine