Hacking Student Success: Mental Health Innovation Challenge

The Hacking Student Success: Mental Health Innovation Challenge is a three-part event series where UCI students will form teams and create business ideas that support student success by addressing student mental health challenges. Once formed, each team will receive $1,000 from the Student Startup Fund, get business coaching, and get the chance to pitch for additional funding to turn their ideas into reality.

This challenge is open to ALL MAJORS, and you do not have to know how to code to participate. 

A Special message from Metta World Peace

As an entrepreneur, Metta knows the challenges with turning an idea into reality, and he shares some insights from starting XvsXSports.

– there will be issues

– there will be problems

– there will be ups and downs

– BUT, there is a solution to every problem, especially when you work together

Don’t forget to RSVP via Campus Groups for the pitch finals, where you will get a chance to hear Metta speak about his entrepreneurial journey.

UCI RSVP for the May 25th event here.

 

PUBLIC RSVP for the May 25th event here.

 

Addressing Student Mental Health  

A healthy student sets the foundation for a successful student. Between COVID and the many other challenges that students face, this series of events is a way for students to apply their innovative creativity to come up with real solutions to problems that they and other college students around the country are facing. 

Meet new friends, get funded ($1,000 for each team formed), and have fun! This is not just for business or computer science students. 

Special Keynote Speaker, Metta World Peace

Did you know Metta World Peace is an entrepreneur? He saw a problem, and is solving it through his company XvsXSports! He will be speaking at one of the three events inspiring UCI ANTrepreneurs with the story of his journey!

More details soon!

We are giving away over $50,000 in prizes and funding! The UCI ANTrepreneur Center’s special three-part event is centered on the theme of supporting student success by addressing mental health challenges. The event series will invite UCI students to form teams, develop original business ideas, and compete for funding to bring their ideas to life.

The event will take place over three days (May 11, 18, and 25) where students who participate will receive $1,000 in seed funding and support from the ANTrepreneur Center to refine their ideas.

11

May

THIS EVENT IS DONE. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN! 

Kickoff and Team Formation at the ANTrepreneur Center

6:30pm – 9:00pm

The kickoff event will feature speakers from UCI and industry all coming together to support the creation and rapid prototyping of ideas that will serve UCI students’ success. There will also be food and fun de-stressing and networking activities for students to help them form teams around different business ideas.

18

May

THIS EVENT IS DONE. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN!

Business Development and Pitch Workshop at the ANTrepreneur Center

6:30pm – 9:00pm

This event will offer help with business idea refinement and pitch training for student teams to help them further develop their ideas and get them ready for the final pitch competition.

 

25

May

Pitch Finals and Keynote Speaker Metta World Peace

6:30pm – 9:00pm

The final pitch competition will be held at the UCI Beall Innovation Center. There will be an exciting keynote speech from NBA star and entrepreneur Metta World Peace, mindfulness activities, and student teams will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and investors.

Kickoff Event: DONE! May 11th, 2022 – Speakers

Marcelle Hayashida

Marcelle Hayashida

Keynote Speaker

In her role as associate vice chancellor for UCI Wellness, Health & Counseling Services, Dr. Marcelle Hayashida oversees Campus Recreation, the Office of Campus Social Work, CARE, Child Care Services, the Counseling Center, the Disability Services Center, the Student Health Center, and the Center for Student Wellness & Health Promotion. She supports the health of the campus as the point-person and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs’ representative on student wellness issues, and works to contribute constructive advocacy around issues that affect the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the campus community. She also chairs the Consultation Team, which is the campus’ threat assessment team.

Theresa Nguyen

Theresa Nguyen

Keynote Speaker

As MHA’s Chief Program Officer and Vice President of Research and Innovation, Theresa works to improve access to mental health care through data and digital-based innovations. Her areas of special interest include prevention, early intervention, education, and building a full recovery-oriented mental health system of care. Theresa manages MHA’s programs including MHA Screening, The State of Mental Health in America, and Workplace Wellness. She oversees MHA’s research which explores the integration of peers into research, the use of technology to support people in the earliest stages of recovery, and how large scale data provides insight into gaps in supports systems across the country. 

Josh Gold

Josh Gold

Aikido Demonstration

Josh Gold has 30 years of aikido experience and is one of the most visible leaders in the global Aikido community, which now spans 140 countries. Josh is Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, the world’s leading Aikido media publication and digital community and is Executive Director of Ikazuchi Dojo. In 2019, Josh founded Budo Accelerator with a goal of using Aikido for social good. Budo Accelerator is a growing educational nonprofit that empowers low-opportunity youth to become the leaders of tomorrow. Its programs for high-school and first-generation college students build resilience, leadership capacity, and a powerful network of peers and mentors.

Berké Brown

Berké Brown

Special Activity Speaker

Berké is a leading expert in motivation and behavior change. He has worked with numerous companies, leaders, organizations, and municipal governments to create mission-driven and sustainable changes in culture, performance, and service.

He is a managing partner and Executive Coach at Fogbreak Justice, a values-based DEI educational & consulting firm. He is also the founder of iGYM Enterprises, a mindset coaching and consulting company that equips individuals and organizations with research-backed tools to increase performance, resilience, and purpose.

Stefani Rios

Stefani Rios

Moderator

Stefani Rios is the founder of SmartWell, a mental health company finding a solution for male suicides and overall access to mental health knowledge and resources. She is currently working for a mental health startup. She is excited for this event because it shows how important mental health is to all areas of our lives. 

Justine Bautista

Justine Bautista

Panelist

Justine is currently attending the University of California, Irvine for her Ph.D. in Social Ecology. She will be presenting work at The White House in May and is participating in the Mental Health Youth Action Forum to leverage technology for mental health solutions. She also currently serves as a Research Fellow for the Connecting the EdTech Research Ecosystem Center (CERES). Justine has research interests in digital mental health and emerging adults, focusing specifically on Asian communities.

Benjamin Kaveladze

Benjamin Kaveladze

Panelist

Benjamin Kaveladze is a Ph.D. student in Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine studying how the internet can be used to support people’s well-being.

Savannah Graves

Savannah Graves

Panelist

Savannah Graves is a recent graduate from the University of California, Irvine where she studied dance. Savannah started dancing at a young age as a form of stress relief, and her mental health has always played a large role in her dance career. Savannah credits exercise, positive self-talk, breathing exercises, and other self-care strategies with helping to ease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Savannah is currently a professional NBA dancer and pilates instructor.

Celina Tiqui

Celina Tiqui

Panelist

Celina Tiqui is a third-year University of California, Irvine student studying English and education sciences with a minor in creative writing. Celina also works at Mesa Court as a Resident Advisor and with the Antleader Mentorship Program as a Community Coordinator. As someone who has experienced struggles with mental health, Celina hopes to use her role as a student leader on campus to promote the de-stigmatization of mental health amongst her peers.

Brandon Chau

Brandon Chau

Panelist

Brandon Chau is a third-year University of California, Irvine student studying political science with a minor in history. Brandon is currently working on a research project focused on the political rhetoric surrounding Vietnamese refugees. While this project has introduced personal and academic challenges, Brandon credits the support of his research group, his participation with the UCI Lion Dance team, and hobbies such as gaming and baking as helpful stress relievers.

 Pitch Workshop Event: DONE! May 18th – Speakers

Ektha Aggarwal

Ektha Aggarwal

Moderator

Ektha Aggarwal is the Chief Clinical Officer of OOTify and the founder of Shakti Therapy & Healing Services. She is a licensed Clinical Social Worker driving the clinical architecture and transforming health services with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Ektha is a leader in the mental health space who is dedicated to co-creating the next generation of healing systems.

Meeshu Agnihotri

Meeshu Agnihotri

Panelist

Meeshu Agnihotri is a graduate researcher earning her Ph.D. in Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Currently, she is designing mobile health technologies to support people with physical, emotional, social, and other aspects of their holistic well-being. She graduated from Georgia Tech’s MSHCI program with an interest in understanding user needs and building technologies to support them. She was also a UX/ Product Designer for consultancies and startups in Chicago, Atlanta, and Bangalore, India. Outside of work, she volunteers for community and career-focused non-profits such as Women Making News.

Ravi Sharma

Ravi Sharma

Panelist

Ravi Sharma built a venture capital studio for active investment of personal and syndicated capital in underrepresented founders of tech-enabled businesses via iBOS Ventures. Supported industries include, but are not limited to: fintech, digital health, B2B, and web3 (crypto). He incubated and founded OOTify because he believes it will have an outsized impact on society as a proof-of-care, mental health web3 platform.

Jaune Odombrown

Jaune Odombrown

Pitch Workshop - Presenter

Jaune Odombrown is a former U.S. Marine who completed two tours in Afghanistan during his 10 years on active duty. He then went on to become the first in his family to attend college, earning bachelor’s degrees in entertainment business and business administration organizational structure and a master’s degree in entrepreneurship & innovation. Jaune currently serves as founder and CEO of Smarpreneur, president and co-founder of Rock The Base, and manager of the ANTrepreneur Center at the University of California, Irvine.

Shilpa Vadodaria

Shilpa Vadodaria

Working Backwards to your Solution - Presenter

Shilpa Vadodaria believes healthcare is a human right. Shilpa is Amazon’s Global Lead for Digital Innovation, specializing in healthcare and digital equity. She previously led Amazon’s COVID-19 equity agenda, coming off driving national reform (the Affordable Care Act and US Medicaid redesign), tackling the spread of HIV/STIs in South Asia, and building sanitation systems in Ghana with Engineers without Borders. Shilpa holds an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Columbia University.

Pitch Finals: May 25th – Keynote Speaker

Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace

Keynote Speaker

Metta World Peace (born Ronald William Artest Jr.) is a former NBA player and champion who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, and Chicago Bulls. 

World Peace is a staunch mental health advocate, who has made several trips to Capitol Hill to speak with congressional members about the importance of supporting mental health and has participated in numerous PSA campaigns on behalf of mental health awareness. World Peace continues to speak with school, community, and incarcerated groups of youth and adults on the importance of mental health and seeking help when one needs it.

In 2019, World Peace founded XvsX Sports, a global sports, media and technology company focused on empowering athletes, creating compelling, purpose-driven content, and connecting sports enthusiasts throughout the world. In 2022, World Peace was named the new Chief Impact Director of OOTify, a clinically data-driven mental health hub that uses educational content, predictive triage analytics, and enhanced telehealth to empower clients to efficiently get high-quality therapy and find inexpensive sub-clinical resources that address their mental well-being needs.

BIG THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

Hacking Student Success is made possible by sponsorship from the UCI Office of Data and Information Technology, UCI Wellness, Health, & Counseling Services, UCI Graduate Division, UCI Division of Undergraduate Education, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, UCI Beall Applied Innovation, Sigma Computing, OOTify, XvsX Sports, UC Davis + AWS Cloud Innovation Center, AWS, and SmartWell.

Top Reasons to participate

 

  • Each team formed gets $1,000 in funding
  • Five teams will win $5,000
  • Three teams can win $2,500 special judges prizes
  • You can be any major, and still participate
  • Learn more about student mental health
  • Hear from awesome speakers
  • Meet and make new friends 
  • Flex your innovative muscles 
  • Come up with a startup idea
  • Pitch your ideas in front of investors
  • Gain valuable startup experience
  • Free food at each of the events
  • Meet Metta World Peace  

We wanted to encourage UCI students to apply their creativity to develop actionable solutions to the real-life problems that they and their friends are facing. Hacking Student Success: Mental Health Innovation Challenge is just as much about having serious conversations about mental health as it is about entrepreneurship.

– Ryan Foland

Ryan Foland, Interim Director of the ANTrepreneur Center

The Pitch Finals at The Cove 

Hacking Student Success will culminate in a pitch competition, where five teams will be awarded additional prizes of $5,000 and receive entry to SURP, a summer research program, to further develop their ideas.

In Fall Quarter 2022, the five teams will present their ideas to the UCI student body who will select the idea that will have the most positive impact on student mental health. The winning team will receive at least $20,000 in funding to go towards creating a viable product that will then be launched across campus for user testing and feedback.

JOIN IN THE FUN (And get funding!)

The event will take place over three days:

6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. 11, May, 2022, UCI ANTrepreneur Center

6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. 18, May, 2022, UCI ANTrepreneur Center

6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. 25, May, 2022, UCI Beall Applied Innovation