The Smart Campus student organization was named the winner of “Moving Forward Together: Paving the Way for Social Mobility,” a competition to provide socially conscious groups and organizations with technology platforms and expertise for the advancement of social mobility.
The competition was sponsored by Transitus, an Ohio-based 501(c)(3) organization focused on innovative solutions to improve access to food, healthcare, and job and workforce development for underserved populations and communities. Teams were tasked with proposing ideas on how to use Transitus technology platform for on-demand transportation and logistics of people, goods and services. The winning team receives full access to the platform as well as support from experts in technology architecture for the course of one year, valued at $150,000.
Priority was given to proposals that focused on promoting access and equity through cross-community teams of university and industry partnership, with an emphasis on student engagement.
The Smart Campus organization partnered with three other student groups on campus (Food Recovery Network, Buckeyes for Wellness, and Kellogg-Moser Food Security and Sustainability Learning Community), as well as a new, innovative grocery delivery startup in Cincinnati, OH called Food Forest. The team’s proposal was focused on the overall goal of improving food access both on campus and in the Columbus, OH community.