Duke University, Texas Tech University, University of South Carolina selected as collegiate finalists. Burlington Township High School in New Jersey, the Louisiana Youth Advisory Council in Louisiana, and Pompano Beach High School in Florida selected as high school finalists.
Finalists will compete in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 25, RSVP to watch HERE.
WASHINGTON, D.C – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (DHS CP3) selected the top three high school and top three collegiate finalists for the Fall 2022 iteration of Invent2Prevent, a national student competition to identify new, whole-of-society approaches to prevent targeted violence, hate, and terrorism. Invent2Prevent is run by the McCain Institute, EdVenture Partners, and Credence Management Solutions LLC. Out of the 24 university teams competing this semester, Duke University, Texas Tech University, and the University of South Carolina were named as finalists. Of the 18 participating high school teams, Burlington Township High School in New Jersey, the Louisiana Youth Advisory Council in Louisiana, and Pompano Beach High School in Florida were selected. The six finalist teams will participate in a live competition to be held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, January 25.
“The level of innovation, ingenuity, and creativity that we see each semester of Invent2Prevent is incredible, and the teams this semester have set the bar extremely high for the final competition,” said Dr. Rachel Nielsen, director for preventing targeted violence at the McCain Institute. “The caliber of the work created by both our high school and collegiate finalists shows a mastery of understanding, both of topic and target audience, that rivals work produced by professional organizations in this space. Providing a platform for our youth to share their unique insights into preventing violence, hate, and terrorism and to see their ideas come to life is one of many reasons why Invent2Prevent is such an important program in the prevention space.”
“This semester, we saw Invent2Prevent teams pull out all the stops when creating and implementing fresh and truly unique social and digital media campaigns to address targeted violence and hate in ways they believe will be most effective in their schools and communities,” said Tony Sgro, founder and CEO of EdVenture Partners. “It has been very encouraging to see the positive response and strong level of interest school administrators have for this DHS-funded, peer-driven, experiential program. There will no doubt be more impressive campaigns created by our imaginative and brilliant youth in future iterations of this program.”
About the collegiate finalists:
As part of this semester-long project, each university team evaluated a current threat facing the nation and identified an opportunity to create a program or tool to better educate a specific target audience on the potential vulnerabilities that could lead individuals to consider targeted violence or terrorist acts. Each team had a modest budget of $2,000. Each of the three finalists identified a different topic and will provide a 15-minute overview of their specific effort during the in-person final.
Duke University, Durham, N.C.: Lumi Media Consulting
The Duke University team created Lumi Media Consulting, which offers advising and advertising services for organizations working to combat white supremacy in online spaces. Lumi Media Consulting partners with existing organizations working against white supremacy, revamps their existing content, and launches it on social media platforms in a way that more effectively appeals to their intended audience. Lumi works collaboratively with its partners by meeting with each organization to learn more about their requested areas of improvement and tailoring its content to reduce rates of radicalization through the partner’s desired means. As a result, Lumi Media Consulting and its partners help dissuade those in online spaces from adopting white supremacist ideologies by increasing engagement with appropriate services and information. Visit Lumi Media Consulting at: Home | Lumi Media Consultin (lumimediaconsulting.net)
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas: AIMS (Adapt, Inform, Mobilize, Secure)
The Texas Tech University Team created AIMS (Adapt, Inform, Mobilize, Secure), an initiative that creates preventative educational materials for social media managers to combat crisis scenarios. AIMS developed and implemented The Social Media Manager’s Crisis Prevention & Response Toolkit to help government and other professional social media managers effectively leverage social media channels in crisis to prevent misinformation and engage citizens to protect vulnerable populations, locations and first responders impacted by targeted violence or terrorism or other crises. AIMS’ digital toolkit provides social media managers with the opportunity to counter information problems, bolster public trust, and enhance citizen engagement during a crisis. The toolkit includes educational materials, planning questions and guidelines for how social media managers can combat challenges such as sharing accurate information, maintaining credibility, and efficiently responding to crisis situations including terrorist related threats. These efforts ensure that communities are “AIMed” in safety and that social media managers walk away feeling empowered in their role within crisis response efforts. Visit the AIMS project at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rKTUqSJ0qqediIYA8X82XBCYLvQZLkIz/view
University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.: ‘No name, no fame.’
The University of South Carolina team created the ‘No name, no fame’ initiative which aims to prevent the negative effects of revealing the names of mass shooters in the media. Studies show that an excess of news coverage on mass shooters increases the chance of similar shootings occurring. By calling on journalists, news outlets, press associations and similar media organizations to change how they report mass shootings, the goal of ‘No name, no fame.’ is to mitigate the media contagion and copycat effects of sensationalizing these horrific crimes. To make this happen, ‘No name, no fame.’ encourages journalists to limit naming and providing identifying details of mass shooters whenever possible. Instead, journalists are encouraged to focus on victims when reporting on a mass shooting. The project provides journalists with tools on how to alternatively report on these tragedies without giving the perpetrator the notoriety they desire and educate the public on their role in slowing the spread of the mass shooting epidemic in America. Visit the ‘no name no fame’ project at: no name, no fame. (@nonamenofamecampaign) • Instagram photos and videos
About the high school finalists:
As part of this semester long project, each high school team evaluated a current threat facing their school or community and created a program or initiative to better educate a specific target audience on the potential vulnerabilities that could lead individuals to consider targeted violence or acts of hate. Each of the three finalists identified a different topic and will provide a 12-minute overview of their specific effort during the in-person final.
Burlington Township High School, Burlington, N.J.: Peace by Piece
The Burlington Township High School team created Peace by Piece after noticing a rise in hate within their school. More than half of Burlington Township High School’s population are students of color. Peace by Piece was created to aid the issues involving misconceptions about Islam and its followers, Muslims. Their target audience is high school students aged 14-18 within the Burlington Township community. Learn more about Peace by Piece at: Invent2Prevent Club at BTHS (@bths.invent2prevent) • Instagram photos and videos
Louisiana Youth Advisory Council, Multiple Cities across Louisiana: Let’s Talk
The Louisiana Youth Advisory Council team designed Let’s Talk to prevent bullying and social isolation and create friendships and connection while promoting inclusivity among 4th-5th graders. Let’s Talk allows students to be more comfortable with vulnerability and to talk about their feelings in a safe environment. After noticing the effects of the pandemic such as social isolation, children not going to school and being in a virtual format for over two years, children missed a critical phase in their education, but most importantly their social lives. To counter this issue, Let’s Talk was created. This game is focused on expanding and rebuilding the bonds COVID destroyed by helping kids talk about themselves, the problems they face and their interests. Visit the ‘Let’s Talk’ project at: https://pin.it/79tEJUz
Pompano Beach High School, Pompano Beach, Fla.: Bonding Buddies
The Pompano Beach High School team created Bonding Buddies to reduce social isolation while fostering relationships and connectivity among at-risk students aged 6-9 years old. Through a partnership with Pompano Beach Elementary School, Bonding Buddies looks to reduce the number of students who presently feel bullied, excluded, or abused. Bonding Buddies provides unique solutions for preventing isolation and serves as an outlet for students at risk. The Bonding Buddies student mentoring program allows high school students to partner with elementary students to create meaningful and impactful relationships through various activities and games. Visit the Bonding Buddies project at: MOSS Club PBHS (@makeourschoolssafepbhs) • Instagram photos and videos
Follow the progress of the Invent2Prevent finalists and learn more about the upcoming Fall 2022 Invent2Prevent (I2P) Final Competition on the I2P social media accounts @invent2prevent on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Click here to attend the Final Competition on January 25th and view the livestream.
About the McCain Institute at Arizona State University
Inspired by Senator John McCain and his family’s legacy, the McCain Institute at Arizona State University is non-partisan and fights to secure democracy and alliances, defend human rights, protect the vulnerable and advance character-driven leadership in all communities around the world.
About EdVenture Partners
EdVenture Partners (EVP) builds academic partnerships to address social impact, marketing communications, and other business-related challenges for Fortune 500 companies, governments, NGO’s, and trade associations. EVP has partnered with nearly 1,000 academic institutions in 76 countries worldwide with more than 250,000 students participating in peer-to-peer experiential learning programs.
About Credence Management Solutions LLC
Credence Management Solutions, one of the largest privately held government contractors, is among the top vendors under the GSA OASIS vehicles, and is also proud to be one of the fastest growing privately held firms in the U.S. over the last decade (according to Inc. 5000).
About Arizona State University
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American research university, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.