This summer, five of the nation’s top college-level advocates for solutions to global poverty will travel with the ONE Campus Challenge to Rwanda for a week of on-the-ground listening and learning, June 27 through July 2. This experience will make them even better advocates, as they’ll be able to speak first-hand about what works and what doesn’t in disease prevention and treatment, sustainable agriculture development, maternal and child health promotion, and more.
The five students are:
Mike Fazzino
Mike is a recent graduate of Sacred Heart University in CT where he studied Business and Political Science. Mike has been SHU’s Campus Leader since OCC’s launch in 2007, but he recently stepped down to train next year’s leader. Mike hopes to eventually pursue a Master’s in Public Policy.
Meredith Horowski
Meredith is taking over duties as Campus Leader at the University of Michigan next year. She is seeking to not only bring more attention to ONE’s issues on her campus, but also wants to include the larger Ann Arbor community. Meredith sees a career in non-profit work in her future but for now is focusing on her work at UofM’s Ford School of Public Policy.
Sarah Hunter
Sarah is next year’s Campus Leader at Boston University. She’s a rising senior and hopes to continue her work with international development after graduation. Sarah is considering the Peace Corps or non-profit work post-grad, but for now she is focusing her efforts on spreading advocacy and awareness on the BU campus.
Kritter Keirnan
Yes, her name is “Kritter”, and she’s a rising Junior at Webster University in St. Louis, studying Print Journalism. She was instrumental in getting Sen. Kit Bond to appear on Webster’s campus this April and because of Webster’s relationship with Sen. Bond, Kritter has particular interest in global agriculture.
Charlie Kraiger
Charlie is the current Campus Leader at Michigan State University and has worked incredibly hard to pull his campus from #35 to #2 in this year’s Challenge. Like MSU in their final project, Charlie plans to more closely examine educational systems in Rwanda. He will also be interning with Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow’s office this summer.
These five will be traveling all over Rwanda and blogging about their adventures here on the ONE Blog. Stay tuned!
Every year, ONE hosts the ONE Campus Challenge (OCC): a friendly competition to determine which university’s student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign.
College students work together — with others on their campus and across the country — to learn about global poverty and preventable disease, and to achieve change on behalf of the world’s poorest people through advocacy, action and awareness-raising.
During the school year, students earn points and recognition for their schools by participating in different actions and monthly challenges, including advocating for important legislation, educating people on campus about challenges to international development, and raising the visibility of ONE and the issues we champion. The schools accumulating the most points in monthly challenges and throughout the season are eligible for exciting prizes and national recognition for their efforts in the fight against global poverty.
The 2009-2010 ONE Campus Challenge title goes to the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor! ONE at UMich has been hard at work since September – gathering petition signatures, recruiting new members, lobbying their Members of Congress, educating their peers, and mobilizing the entire Ann Arbor community in ONE’s mission.
For their Top 10 advocacy project, ONE at UMich chose to focus on maternal and child health, where they demonstrated some simple programs being implemented on the ground that are saving thousands of lives. In addition to a phenomenal giant Africa map petition, they also successfully logged 78 calls to Congress, 78 handwritten letters to Michigan Senators Levin and Stabenow, and an astounding 789 letters to Congress signed by UMich students.
For their efforts, ONE at UMich will receive $10,000 in their name to give to the ONE Partner Organization of their choice. UMich has chosen Carolina for Kibera, a small nonprofit in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya – the largest slum in East Africa. University of Michigan Campus Leader Stephanie Parrish visited Carolina for Kibera as a student participant in Summer 2009 on the first-ever ONE Campus Challenge Trip to Africa.
The University of Michigan is very deserving of this honor. The ONE Campus Challenge Team would like to thank the U of M group for all of their tireless work advocating for the world’s poorest people; we are very much looking forward to what ONE at UMich will accomplish in next year’s ONE Campus Challenge!
Congrats, Wolverines!!
PS– If you have had a chance yet, be sure to check out UMich’s video:
We invited more than 2,000 schools in the ONE Campus Challenge to make 90-second video messages asking their senators for support on three critical development priorities: the Global Fund, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI), and agricultural development.
We had some great submissions, but three really stood out — and now we need your vote to help determine the winner.
These videos, and the others we received, all represent the next generation of global poverty-fighters. They show that students care…and students vote. We’re super-impressed with how well these students understand the tough issues we asked them to tackle, and how hard they are working to get through to their senators.
Cast your vote right away and your favorite college or university (even if they don’t have a video in the finals) will get 50 points in the ONE Campus Challenge. The finalist school that gets the most votes wins 25,000 points — enough to secure a spot in the top 20 and be eligible for a trip to Africa next summer, as well as other exciting prizes to help further our movement.
The winning school will also get a visit from ONE staff and have their video featured on the ONE website and social networks.
So help encourage the college-level fight against global poverty. Cast your vote today.
Yesterday I joined Power 100 students from the University of Florida, Hillsborough Community College, Georgia Tech and Kenessaw State University for a lobby day on Capitol Hill. We spent the day meeting with staff from Senator Nelson, LeMieux, Chambliss and Isakson’s offices. In each meeting we talked about how we are working with ONE and specifically the ONE Campus Challenge to increase awareness about global poverty in our hometowns.
We also talked about the importance of the International Foreign Affairs budget. We requested that each senator support robust increases for the 150 account and especially for proven lifesaving programs like GAVI and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and TB. On the whole, it was a very busy day but I think each of us left Washington D.C. confident that our Senators not only know about our presence in the states, but are willing to work with us as we advocate for a greater focus on development assistance for the world’s poorest countries.
This past weekend’s Power 100 concluded today with Campus Leaders from across the country meeting with their respective Members of Congress and their Staffs.
I had the opportunity to join students from Pennsylvania and meet with some of the Staff from Senator Robert Casey and Arlen Specter. We made sure both Staffs understood our appreciation for the Senators’ continued support of life-saving programs like the Global Fund and PEPFAR. We also thanked them for being Co-sponsors of S. 624 the Paul Simon Water for the World Act.
The highlight of the day without a doubt, however, was when the students passionately requested both Staff Members to urge their Senators to support the President’s request for the International Affairs Budget! I was thoroughly impressed and inspired to see these motivated ONE Members emphasize the importance of development and poverty reduction as vital components to our national security.
Today’s meetings went extremely well and I was very proud to have such well informed advocates for the world’s most vulnerable sitting next to me!
As you might’ve picked up here on the ONE Blog, the ONE Campus Challenge Power 100 Summit was this weekend. It was an excellent opportunity for ONE Campus Leaders to convene, meet with ONE staff, and other distinguished speakers and guests. From everything I’ve heard, it was an extremely positive experience.
But don’t just take my word for it! Various Campus Outreach Ambassadors blogged the entire experience (and did a fantastic job of it, in my opinion). You can read their coverage of the weekend on the OCC Blog here.
Last year, more than 27,000 students representing 2,400 colleges and universities participated in the ONE Campus Challenge. The 2009-10 ONE Campus Challenge is just getting started and all students are welcome to join! Learn more and sign up here.
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This summer, five of the nation’s top college-level advocates for solutions to global poverty will travel with the 
Every year, ONE hosts the ONE Campus Challenge (OCC): a friendly competition to determine which university’s student body has the most effective global poverty-fighting campaign.
This past weekend’s Power 100 concluded today with Campus Leaders from across the country meeting with their respective Members of Congress and their Staffs.
