The University of Miami’s School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) hosted the Hult Prize Regional Competition on February 12, 2026, as one of two institutions selected to serve as a regional site. The competition, led by SEHD, invited all undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Miami to compete in teams pitching ventures for social impact. The winning team, from SEHD’s Data Analytics and Intelligence for Social Impact (DAISI) program, advanced to the Hult Prize National Competition in Boston on May 1, 2026, where they pitched J.O.O.F (Just Out Of Foster Care), an AI-powered platform designed to support youth aging out of the foster care system.
Addison Necco, a DAISI student and J.O.O.F founder, and Isabella Lopez-Merlos, a pre-med student. Together they competed in what organizers describe as the world's largest student startup competition. The Hult Prize draws more than 200,000 annual participants from more than 130 countries; this year over 18,000 teams competed, and Necco and Lopez-Merlos’s venture was selected as one of roughly 1,500 to advance to Nationals. The global winning team receives $1 million in funding to scale their venture.
J.O.O.F addresses a critical gap in foster care infrastructure. The platform transforms existing foster care data infrastructure, information collected throughout a child's lifecycle in the system, into real-time support for young adults navigating housing, employment, healthcare, education, and financial independence. Most foster youth never access the data collected about them, and many age out of care at 18 without the support systems needed to manage the transition to independence. J.O.O.F. is built to close that gap.
Necco's purpose is rooted in family history. Her great-grandparents both grew up in orphanages, what Necco kept returning to was a photograph of her great-grandmother smiling despite everything she had lost, because she still had a support system around her.
"I started thinking deeply about what happens to young people today when they lose that support system completely after aging out of foster care," Necco said.
Her long-term goal is to reduce homelessness, incarceration, and unemployment among young people leaving foster care by offering steady guidance during one of life's hardest transitions.
Necco described how the experience showed her the way responsible data can be used for social impact, and how thoughtful data collection, analysis, contextualization, and attention to its implications can serve a clear purpose. She extended special appreciation to Dr. Soyeon Ahn (Professor and Program Director, DAISI) and Associate Dean Ellenmarie McPhillip for providing guidance while allowing the team to navigate challenges independently.
Lopez-Merlos, who has worked with the foster care system, joined Necco as a partner to help shape the venture from concept to pitch.
“DAISI prepares students to bring such purposes to realization, and the entire Hult experience guides you through the process of building a startup for something that will make a true difference.” Lopez-Merlos said.
Stories like Necco’s are what DAISI is built for: a student’s purpose meeting rigorous training, then turning into an impact that can change lives. The DAISI program prepares students not only for data analytics, but for data to impact, grounded in the responsible and ethical use of data for long-term social benefit. The interdisciplinary curriculum combines foundations in behavioral and social sciences with technical training across the full data lifecycle including quantitative methods, qualitative inquiry, computational modeling, and modern cutting-edge technologies. Students learn not only to measure, collect, analyze, and report data but also to contextualize findings, identify and mitigate bias in algorithms, and translate insights into responsible solutions for long-lasting social impact.
Dr. Soyeon Ahn (Professor and Program Director, DAISI), who advised the team alongside Associate Dean McPhillip, reflected on Necco’s development through the competition.
“What stands out most about Addison is the growth in her mindset, which comes directly from her purpose and her intention to make a real difference,” Ahn said. “I look forward to seeing her become one of the responsible, data-driven leaders our society genuinely needs. The world today calls for thinkers who can move across disciplines, stay open-minded, and combine rigorous knowledge and expertise with real application. That kind of preparation, built with intention, is what we strive to offer through DAISI, and Addison’s trajectory reflects exactly that.”
Necco plans to continue building J.O.O.F over the coming year, assembling a team to scale the platform's reach and long term impact.
The School of Education and Human Development will once again host the Hult Prize Regional Competition at the University of Miami on February 18, 2027, and the door is open to any undergraduate or graduate student ready to take what Necco and Lopez-Merlos started and run with their own idea.
“We are proud to serve as a regional institutional site again next year,“ Ahn said. A call for participation will be released soon to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Miami who care about social impact and who want to translate their ideas into ventures that change lives.
“Honestly, what I want for our undergrads is for them to leave SEHD able to connect across fields and actually use what they learn on the things that matter,” said Associate Dean McPhillip. “Hult is one of the places where I get to watch them try it, and it's exciting every time”
