Chelsea Clinton Presents Plymouth College Student Top Prize for Autism Project

Melissa Diamond, a resident of Plymouth and a 19-year old sophomore at the University of Richmond, has won the top prize from the Resolution Project awarded at the Clinton Global Initiative University last weekend.

Melissa was awarded $9,000 in seed funding and lifelong mentorship to launch her social venture. Chelsea Clinton awarded the prize to Melissa.

In all, a total of $100,000 was awarded for social ventures aimed at addressing some of the most pressing problems in the world today. 

“The Resolution Project has shown that socially-responsible young entrepreneurs who want to create a positive change no longer have to wait for tomorrow, but are capable of leading today” said Chelsea Clinton, a board member of the Clinton Foundation. “The social ventures funded by Resolution at this CGI U show the tremendous work of students who are dedicated to finding solutions for some of the world’s most challenging issues.”

Diamond's project—"A Voice for Autism"—will train mothers of children with autism in Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy techniques and provide a support group for those mothers. After being trained, the mothers will spend five hours a week in the center giving children ABA in a cooperative format, which will make therapy accessible and affordable. 

Diamond's submission was selected from over 300 applicants. Winning social ventures range from managing the flow of medicine to rural health clinics in Peru to a mentorship program for at risk high school students in California.

The Resolution Project has already awarded 63 Resolution Fellowships to young social entrepreneurs with ventures across the globe aimed at tackling some of today’s toughest challenges. Today’s SVC winners will join this Fellowship program, which provides students with seed funding to launch their social ventures, hands-on mentorship and robust support from a team of more than 200 Resolution volunteers, and access to Resolution’s global network of young social entrepreneurs.