presented by The Allstate Foundation

STUDENT IMPACT CHALLENGE

The Student Impact Challenge celebrates student achievement and agency in solving the most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.

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ABOUT

 

The Student Impact Challenge provides high school students making an impact in their community with an opportunity to share their talents, validate and refine their ideas, and gain experience. This year’s competition is presented by The Allstate Foundation, which empowers youth to serve their communities and create positive change.

Watch selected finalists compete live before a panel of industry experts in the Student Impact Challenge on Wednesday, March 11. Following the live competition, join us for ice cream and the winner announcement at the Student Impact Ice Cream Social presented by The Allstate Foundation.

Finalists and semifinalists will have access to coaching provided by CASE at Duke.

Application Process

High School students are encouraged to complete the online application process to be considered as a finalist or semifinalist for the Student Impact Challenge.

Eligibility Requirements

  • You must be a currently enrolled high school student and 13 years or older in order to be considered.
  • Both U.S. and international applicants are eligible.
  • Solo entrepreneurs and team applicants qualify.
  • Proposed solutions must be past the ideation stage and must be in active development.
  • Proposed solutions must be seeking to solve social challenges that resonate in communities at a local, regional, national, or international level, regardless of project scale.
Opportunities for Selected Participants

Finalists

  • Receive 6 complimentary credentials to SXSW EDU 2026 (2 for the student presenters, and the remaining 4 for adult chaperones and additional team members)
  • Pitch live to an audience of educators, investors, and changemakers for the opportunity to win the “Student Impact Award
  • Have access to coaching sessions with savvy innovators selected by SXSW EDU to help participants refine their project idea and perfect their pitch

Semifinalists

  • Receive 6 complimentary credentials to SXSW EDU 2026 (2 for the student presenters, and the remaining 4 for adult chaperones and additional team members)
  • Have access to coaching sessions with savvy innovators selected by SXSW EDU to help participants refine their project idea and model
  • Opportunity to showcase their project or initiative to a live audience of educators, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators on stage at SXSW EDU
Prize

Student Impact Award:

This award is given to the Student Impact Challenge's grand prize winner. The recipient of this award impressed the judges as the top project with its innovative solution to a clear problem, strong execution plan, proof of concept, potential for impact, and unique perspective of the team.

Frequently Asked Questions

For frequently asked questions and answers, check out the Student Impact Challenge FAQ.

History

Learn more about the history of the Student Impact Challenge by browsing a full list of past finalists and winners.

JUDGES

Alex Quian

Head of Youth Empowerment

The Allstate Foundation

Nandana Menon

Founder

Spark

Sophia Kianni

Founder

Phia

Tejasvi Manoj

Founder

Shield Seniors

EMCEES

Zoë Jenkins

Director of Civic Trust & Recruitment

Civics Unplugged

Kennedy Little

Youth Advocacy Team Member

Food Empowerment Project

FINALISTS

 

Futr
Mars, Pennsylvania

Futr is the first ever online service that provides immigrants direct access to jobs, banks, and tax services inclusive of immigrant status. Using a novel proprietary algorithm, we perfectly match immigrants to the services that best help them, increase immigrants' financial ability through increased income and credit scores, and reduce tax overpayments. We are the future of immigrant finance, destroying the 200+ year poverty gap for the immigrant community.

H2Know
Lafayette, Colorado

H2Know empowers fire and flood-damaged communities with water safety resources, encouraging citizen science and leveraging AI for equitable quick, cheap water testing. Our app’s citizen science uses Open Street Map to track water hazards (flood, fire, fracking, old mines, landfills) and test results. Our AI geo-location connects local low-cost water resources and our phone-based benzene detector prototype furthers water testing with aquaphometric technology.

Immunova AI
Singapore

Immunova is developing a non-profit open-source AI platform that integrates medical scans, genetic data and patient records to support early detection and diagnosis across 35 cancers. Designed holistically, ethically and sustainably, our three-module suite predicts immunotherapy outcomes, guides treatment decisions and enhances overall diagnostic accuracy. Immunova aims to save lives, reduce treatment costs and minimise the carbon footprint of cancer care by reducing unfit treatments.

PERCH
San Francisco, California

PERCH (PERsonalized Communication for Healthcare) is an accessible digital tool that equips physicians with personalized strategies to meet their patients’ health literacy needs. PERCH uses an automated process to assess patients' written, verbal, numerical, and digital health literacy, along with their associated needs, providing physicians with actionable, tailored strategies to address them. In doing so, PERCH empowers patients and physicians to bridge the gap in healthcare communication.

Shared Skies Initiative
Dallas, Texas

The Shared Skies Initiative is a youth-led project tackling environmental injustice in Dallas by turning invisible air pollution into visible action. We deploy hyper-local air sensors in frontline neighborhoods, train and educate youth ambassadors to translate that data, and provide real-time alerts and insights to protect residents. With partnerships across schools and nonprofits, we're creating environmental and social justice and a scalable model for cleaner, fairer air in cities nationwide.

The Bionic Leaf
Plano, Texas

Currently, more than 940 million people across society don't have access to a stable and efficient power source. While lithium-ion batteries and fossil fuels do exist, they are not only expensive but also not environmentally sustainable. Through my project, I created a cost-effective, sustainable, and efficient energy source that would be able to produce a clean fuel using just water, bacteria, and sunlight. I've already started launching my prototype in communities through pilot programs.

SEMIFINALISTS

 

Hawaiialert.jp
Honolulu, Hawaii

HawaiiAlert.jp is an AI-driven disaster alert platform designed to protect Japanese residents and visitors in Hawaii. It automatically retrieves official warnings from the U.S. National Weather Service, stores them in a MySQL database, and uses ChatGPT to summarize and translate them into Japanese. The translated alerts are instantly delivered to users via LINE, bridging the language gap and saving lives through accessible, real-time information.

Pathways to Potential
Chandler, Arizona

Pathways to Potential is a nonprofit that aims to overcome the barriers for sensory impaired students to STEAM. Our initiatives include creating Visually Accessible STEAM Kits with multi-sensory experiments, Braille and auditory guides, and tactile diagrams; running STEAM demonstrations; curating resources in ASL and Braille; and hosting panels and career videos for blind and deaf students. We conduct events at Title 1 schools, sensory impaired centers, foster care, and online at no cost.

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