We are proud to announce that we have just selected the five student teams who will compete as finalists in our first-ever National Competition, a challenge that asked college students across the country to help Blessings in a Backpack bring its fight against childhood hunger to campuses nationwide. The finalists will present their solutions live in Chicago on November 6, 2026, with our partner Blessings in a Backpack receiving $50,000 to put the winning idea into action.
Since our first competition at Indiana University back in 2018, The Impact Competition has offered competitions on more than a dozen campuses with students working alongside nonprofits close to home. As the years went on, we began hearing from more and more students who wanted us to bring our program to their campus.
In response to the growing demand for our programming, we designed the 2026 National Competition, our first event open to students nationwide, built around a single nonprofit partner and a single challenge.
This year’s partner, Blessings in a Backpack, has fed children on weekends since 2005, providing more than 30 million hunger-free weekends to kids across the country. The organization already has the infrastructure to reach every community in the United States, and now would like to mobilize students, universities, and their communities to drive real growth in the number of children served.
Teams were asked to develop an adaptable campus program or how-to guide that establishes a lasting Blessings in a Backpack presence at universities nationwide.
Students from more than thirty universities applied for a chance to compete in Chicago. Eleven teams advanced, and from that group, judges selected five finalists to present in person in Chicago.
The five finalist teams are:
Garden State Collective
- Imani Laird, Hampton University
- Seeya Nagabhairava, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
- Leeann Shaw, University of Maryland, College Park
The Blessing Beavers
- Daniel Idemudia, Babson College
- Tiiu Nomm, Babson College
- Joaquim Lombos, New York University
BearPacks
- Sahar Farooq, University of California, Berkeley
- Zainab Mohammad, University of California, Berkeley
- Giovanna Lima, University of California, Berkeley
Call to Serve
- Aiden (AJ) Norton, Kennesaw State University
- Trey Runner, Kennesaw State University
- Zakarie (Zak) Benzid, Northern Virginia Community College
Luther College
- Mansur Kasali, Luther College
- Rejoice Mzumara, Luther College
- Ruthveridiana Mtaita, Luther College
The Impact Competition also recognizes the universities whose students competed alongside the finalists: Cornell University, Indiana University Bloomington, Livingstone College, Texas Tech University, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania. Their students devoted weeks to a rigorous undertaking, and their work set the standard for this inaugural national field.
“College students don’t do anything halfway, and that’s exactly what makes this partnership so exciting. These teams are designing practical, lasting ways for Blessings in a Backpack to take root on campuses across the country. Every new campus presence means more children who won’t face the weekend hungry, and that’s a future worth building toward,” said Brent Glass, Vice President of the Midwest Region, Blessings in a Backpack.
“Year after year, we’ve watched students do remarkable work when they’re trusted with real problems on their own campuses. Students at other schools noticed and started asking how they, too, could participate and make an impact. That’s why we created the first national Impact Competition. These eleven teams earned their place in it, and I’m proud of every single one of them,” said Lance Breitstein, Founder of The Impact Competition.