Create your own path. Be the driver of your future career. Combine your passion for creativity or desire to create change with your work in the classroom. Inspire others with your creative work or solutions to real world problems.

What are entrepreneurial and creative endeavors?

Students learn to set their own course by having experiences in early stage start-ups, advancing ideas to solve real world problems, or create artistic, written or performance-based projects. 

DifferenceMakers By the Numbers

  • $5M
    raised by teams
  • 40
    companies formed by teams
  • 11
    Number of teams patents filed or issued

Meet the DifferenceMakers

DifferenceMaker-Team-BASH
BASH '16
DifferenceMakers

BASH plans to create and implement a new waste management system for the city of Les Cayes, Haiti.

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to have access to clean water.
Read More About BASH 
Business student Yeaharne Hout talks with another student next to a sign that says RIST Difference Maker Institute.
Yeaharne Hout '21
Business Administration

As she begins her career at Fidelity, Yeaharne Hout sees how transformative her UML experience has been.

I gained so many experiences and connections that made me a more well-rounded person.
Read More About Yeaharne Hout 
UMass Lowell Image
PointStick '13
DifferenceMakers

In the finals of the Idea Challenge the judges awarded PointStick, a product that gives tactile and kinesthetic feedback to patients for both correct spinal alignment and breathing mechanics, second place in the “First to Market” award category.

PointStick gives tactile and kinesthetic feedback to patients for both correct spinal alignment and breathing mechanics.
Read More About PointStick 
Smriti Kumar, Alejandro Luna Juarez, Tina Thuy Nguyen Hoana, and Amy Nguyen smiling for a group photo.
Digital Life, Significant Social Impact
DifferenceMakers

The goal of Digital Life is to develop an affordable solution for those in need.

The goal of Digital Life is to develop an affordable solution for those in need.
Read More About Digital Life, Significant Social Impact 
UMass Lowell Image
Low Income Community Homework Center '15
DifferenceMakers

Low Income Community Homework Center plans to improve test scores and the graduation rate of high school students.

We grew up in Lawrence and know the hardships. We want to make a difference to those struggling high school students.
Read More About Low Income Community Homework Center