Interdisciplinary teams collaborate to benefit local community

By Alexandra Richter

BUFFALO, N.Y. — As 35 graduate students sat in the front rows of the auditorium inside Seneca One Tower for the culminating event of the University at Buffalo’s Social Impact Fellows program, they shared a common knowledge: regardless of the awards given, each had already made an impact in Western New York this summer.  

The Social Impact Fellows program brings together students from the UB College of Arts and Sciences, School of Management and School of Social Work — and for the first time this year — the School of Public Health and Health Professions. Working in interdisciplinary teams, the graduate students use their diverse perspectives and skills to make a positive impact at a local nonprofit organization.

“The program’s growth and evolution has been remarkable,” says Carrie Gardner, director of internships and experiential learning in the UB School of Management. “The far-reaching impact our students have in the community reaffirms the value of collaboration across schools.”

Since the Social Impact Fellows program’s 2017 launch, 193 fellows have completed 70 team projects that address societal issues faced by our community, and the program has engaged 55 organizations in the region.

“This program gave me the opportunity to be on a team of professionals in other disciplines. You can’t solve systemic issues or understand a patient’s needs alone — you need a cross-functional team of professionals,” says Marissa Camacho, MPH ’25, who served on the Rural Outreach Center team. “Gaining insights from students in the other schools opened my eyes to strategies that are not necessarily always a part of my own degree.”

Partnering on projects related to health care, education, poverty and other social issues, this year’s teams worked with the Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, Erie County Department of Senior Services, Erie Niagara AHEC, Goodwill of WNY, International Institute of Buffalo, Jewish Family Services of WNY, Parent Network of WNY, Partnership for the Public Good, National Federation for Just Communities of WNY, and Rural Outreach Center.

During the Impact Showcase on Aug. 1, teams showcased their accomplishments to a panel of judges who recognized three standout teams and one outstanding partner organization.

Camacho, along with Haley Diagostino, MSW ’25; and Hannah Gordon, PhD ’27, received the Social Innovation Award for their unique solution to a persistent challenge and best use of organization resources for their work with The Rural Outreach Center. The team developed a transportation asset map and built partnerships with mobile clinics to combat the lack of public transportation and health care providers and specialists by bringing care directly to rural residents.

The Rural Outreach Center received the Outstanding Partner Organization award for their enthusiasm for collaborating with the fellows. Faculty selected the Rural Outreach Center for this honor through their observations over the course of the eight-week internship.

Pratiksha Biswal, MBA ’25; Nana Afia Owusu-Ansah, MSW ’26; Diana Sieracki, MPH ’24; and Shuyang Sun, PhD ’28, earned the award for Best Implementation for their project with Partnership for the Public Good. This award recognized the immediate and future impact of the team’s project to meet the organization’s needs with meaningful, practical applications, which included a proposal to bring a community responder team to East Buffalo.

Lauren Daniele, MBA/MSW ’26, Wendy Vera, PhD ’25, and Qi Zhou, PhD ’25, received the Best Presentation award for their work with Catholic Charities of Buffalo. Their engaging presentation describing the creation of an inventory system to track items donated to Catholic Charities left the judges wanting to learn more.

“Within two months, our teams came together to make something that we believe will have an impact in the community for years to come,” said Daniele. “Seeing so much innovation and collaboration among all the teams was truly inspiring and made my own interest in investing in the future of Buffalo even stronger.”

Serving on this year’s panel of alumni judges was Theresa DeLuca, BA ’97, chief advancement officer at Journey’s End Refugee Services and board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; Cassidy Malough, MBA/MSW ’21, project manager at M&T Bank and vice chair of Habitat for Humanity Young Professional Group; John Persons, EMBA ’00, CEO of Northeast Grocery and board member of Kaleida Health; and Andrenee Smith, BA ’81, retired vice president at M&T Bank and board member of Crisis Services.