Reflections on STRiVE 2026: Learning to Lead for Public Purpose

January 12-16, 2026

Center for Democracy and Civic Life

February 5, 2026 at 11:08 AM

STRiVE 2026, the leadership for public purpose program hosted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, took place from January 12-16, 2026 at the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center in Marriottsville, MD. 43 UMBC undergraduate students spent five days exploring their stories, values, talents, and identities; developing strong relationships with other members of the UMBC community; learning how to enact meaningful and sustainable social change; and leaning into their power to intentionally create empowering, connective environments in which everyone can thrive. STRiVE 2026 was the 20th iteration of STRiVE at UMBC.

STRiVE participants smile while sitting in pairs and looking at notebooks.

"STRiVE gave me a community unlike any I've experienced before, and I am incredibly grateful to be a part of it. Learning in STRiVE was incredibly empowering with what I've learned about myself, my place in my community, and what I can do as a leader." — Lexi Malenfant '29, computer science

STRiVE 2026 was facilitated by a team of 12 UMBC undergraduate student and staff coaches trained by Tess McRae '22, individualized study (assistant director for connective learning, Center for Democracy and Civic Life) and Dr. David Hoffman, Ph.D. '13, language, literacy and culture (director, Center for Democracy and Civic Life).

The student coaches — all of whom participated in STRiVE in 2024 or 2025 — were:

Ben Bazarsuren '27, mechanical engineering (vice president for external programming, Student Events Board (seb))
Carly Shearer '26, computer science (evaluation intern, Center for Democracy and Civic Life)
Francheska Burrola '28, biological sciences (senator, Student Government Association (SGA))
Keven Guruswamy '27, biological sciences (interfaith fellow, The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being)
Maryada Bhattarai '28, information systems (treasurer, Student Government Association (SGA); special projects intern, Center for Democracy and Civic Life)
Nate Cullen '26, psychology (captain and president, UMBC Men's Rugby Team)
Vannessa Morant '27, mechanical engineering (digital fabrication researcher, Designing pArticipatory futuREs (DARE) Lab)

In addition to Tess and David, the staff coaches were:

Dr. Ciara Christian, M.A. '18, applied sociology, Ph.D. '22, language, literacy and culture (co-director, Center for Social Justice Dialogue)
Dr. James DeVita (assistant vice president for academic partnerships & high impact experiences, Division of Student Affairs)
Dr. Jasmine Lee (associate vice president for community and culture, Division of Institutional Equity; co-director, Center for Social Justice Dialogue)

STRiVE participants and coaches sit in small groups and have engaging conversations in a sunlit room.

"STRiVE created a space for me to reflect on what kind of person I am and what kind of person I want to become in terms of leadership. It also created a space for me to acknowledge my strengths and weaknesses, and continue to work on ways to improve myself." — Nneamaka Ibe '26, biological sciences

During STRiVE, other staff members from UMBC visited Bon Secours to support the participants' learning. Several guests served as "stakeholders" by meeting with small groups of students exploring topics of interest and concern at UMBC (Accessibility, Civic and Political Engagement, Equity and Justice, Finding Community, and Well-Being) and connecting with students as thought partners and co-creators:

Angelina Jenkins (assistant director, The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity, Student Engagement and Belonging)
Matt Hoffman (director, Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Pluralism, Student Engagement and Belonging)
Michael Canale (assistant director and Deaf & hard of hearing coordinator, Office of Student Disability Services)
Dr. Ricky Blissett '11, bioinformatics and computational biology (associate director, Center for Democracy and Civic Life)
Tiffani McGronan (health educator, Office of Health Promotion)
Tori Ciorra (assistant director for student organizations, Student Engagement and Belonging)
Trentqual Rhone (coordinator for political engagement, Center for Democracy and Civic Life)
Wendy Low (coordinator, Center for Social Justice Dialogue)

Ricky Blissett visited STRiVE 2026 at other points during the week to co-facilitate sessions with STRiVE coaches. Dr. Renique Kersh, vice president for student affairs, visited STRiVE to connect with and inspire participants over lunch.

Six STRiVE participants crouch on the floor and smile while participating in a team-building activity involving balancing a tennis ball on a ring of strings.

"[By the end of STRiVE] I became a version of myself I had never seen: Uplifted, encouraged, and instilled with confidence and curiosity." — Olivia Robinson '29, biological sciences

We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported the planning and facilitation of STRiVE 2026, including UMBC Transit, UMBC Residential Life, UMBC's commonvision Student Design & Print Center, UMBC's Vice President for Student Affairs office, UMBC's Student Affairs Business Services Center (SABSC), UMBC's Student Government Association (SGA), and the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center.

Six STRiVE participants sit in a half circle and smile at each other as one of the participants speaks into a microphone.

"I adored this program and it helped me build a stronger sense of self. This is necessary in order to grow as a person, as a leader, and a community member/citizen. I'm so glad I participated in this as a freshman so I could implement it into my 4 years." — Kamarya Buckley '28, biological sciences

STRiVE is hosted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life with support from the Student Government Association and PNC Bank. Since 2009, over 900 UMBC students have participated in the program and have gone on to make meaningful change on campus and beyond.

Applications for STRiVE 2027 will open in October 2026. Fill out the Center for Democracy and Civic Life's Program Interest Form to be among the first notified when we release the application.

A crowd of STRiVE participants stands together, smiling and dancing, while wearing shirts that say "STRiVE UMBC" on the back.

"Reflective, emotional, connective, and actionable, this program transformed how I see and move within spaces entirely by making me realize our collective agency. Want to learn how to make a change? Do this program." — Duncan Winger '29, philosophy and psychology