The center supports and mentors student groups that are interested in participating in various competitions that have some aspect of social impact in businesses. For the last two years, under the center’s guidance interdisciplinary student groups have represented CSUF at the San Diego State University’s Social Venture Competition.

SDSU SVC 2025

Two interdisciplinary teams from CSUF participated in the 2025 SDSU SVC competition. These teams were mentored by Dr Chethan D Srikant, Director of Gianneschi Center for Social Impact in Business, and Dr Atul Teckchandani, Director of Business Honors program. Both these teams had incredibly unique and impactful ideas.

From left to right: Dr. Chethan D Srikant, Jesus Piedra, Vincent Musante, Angeline Gaurano, Alexis Root, Andrew Garcia, Ishani Parkar, and Dr. Atul Teckchandani 

The students spent a better part of three months preparing for the competition, including honing their ideas, reaching out to stakeholders, conducting secondary research, analysis, creating presentation decks, preparing their pitches, and going through a dry-run at SDSU.

Know more about their ideas, the students behind it and their experiences.

Helping Hands

Helping Hands is a social impact venture idea that is committed to increasing accessibility within the community of food accessibility, which includes food pantries and other distribution centers. The team identified an overlooked population of individuals who use food pantries whose needs are not always met consistently. Individuals with disabilities, especially those who are wheelchair-bound, face physical barriers when trying to access food at pantries. These barriers are not only discouraging but also create a lack of independence, which further discourages them from being able to know when their next meal will be.

Created as a solution, Helping Hands provides consultative services and designs innovative products that enhance accessibility for all, even those with mobility issues, such as wheelchair-bound individuals. Our flagship product, Arm Assist, is a tool that was created to empower wheelchair bound patrons to have easy access to obtain their food at food pantries. With an intuitive design and simple to use features, Arm Assist transforms the experience from discouragement to empowerment.

The social impact of Helping Hands goes beyond just innovative tools and designs but serves to create change within a community that is often overlooked.  Working directly with food pantries provides us with the ability to bring the solution to those that need it the most.  Helping Hands believes that everyone should have access to food and never feel discouraged as to when their next meal will be. 

Food insecurity affects millions in this country. Bringing innovative solutions to the community is a gap that Helping Hands is bridging to ensure that the disabled population of individuals is better served within their given communities. 

From left to right: Jesus Piedra, Angeline Gaurano, and Andrew Garcia

Jesus Piedra: "The entire experience was fantastic from start to finish, but the real highlight was building trust within the team! As we grew closer, taking the time to deliberate before presentations – both during dry runs and for the actual event – became invaluable confidence boosters.  Relying on the team to organize thoughts, challenge drafts and anticipate potential questions made all the difference on the big day! It was very empowering to know we had each others support throughout the process!"

Angeline Gaurano: "The most important thing I took away from this experience was gaining experience and participating in something that I would have never expected to be a part of. I was able to gain valuable experience participating in dry runs and practice sessions because as an engineering student we don't usually take part in competitions as extensive as this where the presentation and connecting your idea to the audience was the most important. I also was exposed to people in other fields and working with them was a wonderful experience as they offered a different view on our ideas which made me admire their expertise more."

Mobile Education Kitchen

Our social venture is a mobile education kitchen aimed at addressing food insecurity in California through community engagement and strategic partnerships. By collaborating with organizations like Food Finders, we conduct on-site cooking demonstrations and nutritional education at food distribution sites, empowering individuals to make informed dietary choices.

The Mobile Education Kitchen serves communities facing food insecurity by offering nutrition education and cooking workshops. These hands-on sessions encourage individuals to improve their nutrition and make healthy eating habits sustainable. With predictions of half of the U.S. adult population being obese by 2030 and related diseases like heart disease and diabetes increasing, addressing food insecurity becomes crucial.

Our initiative emphasizes the need for ongoing nutrition education, reducing the stigma around food insecurity, and fostering inclusive spaces within communities. By partnering with local organizations, we expand networks and utilize fresh produce for workshops, promoting control over personal well-being.

Beyond providing healthy meals, we focus on changing dietary habits for lasting impact. By engaging communities in cooking routines, we aim to reduce diet-related diseases and enhance long-term health.

The venture’s impact is multifaceted: it enhances nutritional literacy by equipping individuals with skills to prepare healthy meals, reduces stigma through community-focused events, and fosters supportive networks. Our mobile education kitchen collaborates with vital local organizations to cultivate healthier individuals, resilient communities, and a more equitable food system, addressing immediate food security needs and empowering social connection.

From left to right:  Vincent Musante, Ishani Parkar, and Alexis Root

Vincent Musante: "Coming up with a new and impactful way to tackle the issue of food insecurity was a unique experience I wouldnt’ve gotten in any of my classes. It can be difficult to come up with an idea and then be confident enough with it to present to an auditorium of students and judges. Ultimately, this opportunity further lamented my passion for this topic and gave me self-assurance in the ideation and presentation process."

Ishani Parkar : "The ideation phase sparked a passion for addressing food insecurity in a new, empowering way. Witnessing our initial concept evolve through feedback and refinement during the honing process was incredibly rewarding. Ultimately, the competition's time constraint pushed us to distill our entire vision into a concise and impactful five-minute presentation, making it a great learning experience"

Alexis Root: "Throughout this experience, I realized how important consistent meetings are even though they sometimes felt like a burden at first. Meetings became crucial for collaboration, setting deadlines, and making sure everyone stayed on track. They also made communication so much more efficient from what would have taken 100 emails was handled in just a few minutes face-to-face."