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blog
The Pioneering College Chapter Looks Forward: Riley’s Way at UMich
By Amanda Steele, Program Marketing Intern
Lauren Belous and Noah Weber founded the Riley’s Way Chapter at the University of Michigan (UMich) in 2023 after hearing a powerful lecture from Riley’s dad and Riley’s Way co-founder Ian Sandler. “Lauren and I came together initially after Ian spoke during one of our classes,” said Weber. “It was one of the most inspiring and touching stories. Both of us knew this needed a place at Michigan’s campus.”
After conversations with Ian and the Riley’s Way staff, Belous and Weber began the process of starting their Chapter. “Last year we were getting our legs under ourselves,” said Weber. “It took a lot of marketing to get our name out there, especially on a campus like Michigan.” In their first semester, the Chapter had over 50 members, and they hosted a campus wide pitch competition. The pitch competition gathered kind leaders from across UMich’s campus, where they pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to the Chapter. “Everybody had amazing projects and really big aspirations,” said Belous, “and we had a great outcome.”
With solid membership and a great idea of what their Chapter stands for, the UMich Chapter is only looking to grow more. This year, the Chapter was able to allocate their members and resources to help grow their 2023 pitch competition winner, The Human Network. Founded by Morgan Millstein, the organization promotes unity and mental health awareness through storytelling. “The idea is to try to help more than one project that comes out of a pitch competition” says Weber. “As we move forward, we’ll strive to do that.” One of the ways the Chapter intends to grow is by “tapping into the vast Riley’s Way network of really incredible and intelligent individuals,” says Belous. “Whether they’re entrepreneurs or leading with kindness and empathy, we want to see that for our students.”
The UMich Chapter strives to bring the Riley’s Way values of kindness and empathy to their campus and beyond. “We want to make an impact on our campus and in our Ann Arbor community,” says Belous. One way they’ll do that is by “continu[ing] to highlight people and their initiatives,” says Weber.
Belous and Weber set out to create a kind community of changemakers at UMich, and they did just that. “We put together this community of kind people and kindness,” said Weber. “Walking into our meetings, everyone is smiling. It’s a breath of fresh air.”