When students compete to help local organizations solve problems, everybody wins

Bright and early on a Saturday in February, every table in Fenwick Library's Reading Room is packed. Some of George Mason University's most driven students are about to begin a rigorous five-hour competition in partnership with local organizations. For them, it's the perfect way to spend the weekend. And for the Honors College, it's a chance to show what the honors learning experience is all about: engaging multidisciplinary perspectives, asking questions that matter, and making a difference through civic engagement.

Honors College Challenge Day brings teams of students together to solve strategic challenges for corporate and nonprofit partners. Challenge Day fits into the Honors College's wider ecosystem of professional development opportunities, as a condensed version of their Honors College Connects and Honors College Consults courses. The quickfire nature of the challenge helps build critical thinking, research, presentation, and teamwork skills, as well as being a great networking opportunity for students.

"We wanted a high impact, low time-commitment experience beyond the curriculum for all George Mason students to gain valuable skills while contributing, connecting, and learning from the community," said Melanie Fedri, assistant professor and experiential learning coordinator in the Honors College.

For each Challenge Day, the Honors College typically selects one corporate and one nonprofit partner to participate. They work with each organization to create a challenge statement: what their strategic challenge is and what the constraints are. On the day of the challenge, participating students select their track: corporate or nonprofit. They are then grouped into teams to tackle the selected partner's challenge. Each team has half a day to come up with a solution and present their findings to a panel of George Mason alumni and leaders from the participating organizations. A winning solution is selected from each track.

"I think it's so enriching to participate in these types of extracurriculars that leverage what you're learning in class in a way that impacts the community," said Costello College of Business and Honors College senior Vidhi Pathak. Pathak works for the Honors College as the external partner experience officer. She has been instrumental in shaping the recent iterations of Challenge Day, from developing the corporate track to creating the competitive structure.

"In today's competitive job market, students want real-world experiences and collaborations with real clients that they can put on their resumes to make them stand out among other applicants," said Pathak. "And our partners want outside perspectives on their strategic challenges to find novel and innovative solutions. It's a win-win."

For nonprofit partners, who may be working under tighter budgeting and staffing constraints than their corporate counterparts, Challenge Day is an opportunity for consulting that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

Due to an overwhelming response from nonprofit partners, Honors College Challenge Day for spring 2026 focused on nonprofits. Six organizations were selected and assigned one team each, with all six teams competing against one another for two prizes: the most innovative solution and the most actionable solution.

One of this semester's winning teams worked with Britepaths, a local organization that provides food, financial assistance and education, and workforce development to Northern Virginia residents in economic crisis. Their challenge was how to further grow and promote their in-house library space for young readers.

"Participating in Honors College Challenge Day gave Britepaths valuable insight from the next generation of changemakers, as students brought fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that we look forward to implementing," said Cora Lundgren, food security and youth programs manager for Britepaths.

Naomi Fetene, a freshman neuroscience major in the Honors College, and Zahra Hashemi, a freshman biology major in the Honors College, both participated in Challenge Day in fall 2025. They returned in spring as part of the Britepaths team, along with freshman neuroscience major Neda Sellidj.

"I wanted to participate because it felt like we'd be making a real difference for the organization," said Sellidj.

Using skills learned in their courses like affinity mapping to define the problem and organize their ideas, the group developed high-, medium-, and low-effort solutions for Britepaths within their budgetary constraints: book donation drives, text message campaigns, incentivized summer reading challenges, and community events. Their thorough and creative planning won the prize for "most actionable recommendation."

"Even more fulfilling than winning was when each sponsor stood up and said their thoughts on our presentation, and they told us that our solution would make an impact and be implemented," said Hashemi.

"You leave the day having helped a community and refining your skills in communication, team building, and time management," said Fetene, "and you can make new friends!"

"Events like this bring intellectually curious and passionate students from various backgrounds and majors together to make an impact," said Pathak. "It's really empowering."

Learn more about the Honors College

Related news

Topics