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Schar School Students Turn Language Barriers into Award-Winning Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:44:15 +0000

Schar School Students Turn Language Barriers into Award-Winning Entrepreneurial Opportunity Andrew J Schappert Mon, 04/20/2026 - 15:44

Schar School senior Jayden Banks, left, and sophomore Anthony Even-Vaca pose with ceremonial checks at the Baylor New Venture Competition. Photo provided

Two Schar School of Policy and Government undergraduates took third place and an honorable mention award during the 14th Annual Baylor New Venture Competition in March for pitching a prototype of their medical language translation platform.

The Doctors United DPT/91�� sign at the Baylor New Venture Competition

The cofounders “really felt like the underdogs,” said Anthony Even-Vaca, a 19-year-old sophomore in the Schar School’s International Security and Law degree program at 91��. “I definitely was the youngest there.”

The national competition held at Baylor University’s Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation in Waco, Texas, drew student entrepreneurs from around the country eager to pitch their startup business ideas to panels of judges for cash awards and sage advice. Many of the competitors were doctoral students affiliated with established ventures, Even-Vaca said, heightening the sense of being underdogs in a field of seasoned innovators.

He and graduating government and international politics senior Jayden Banks took the $1,500 honorable mention prize and $500 for placing third in the elevator pitch competition for their self-funded platform, Doctors United DPT.

The idea for the language translation platform stemmed from Banks’s experience working for the last two years at the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus as a clinical technician, assisting the medical staff in patient care. He began building the app, he said, about a year-and-a-half ago after witnessing firsthand the difficulties of language barriers in a medical environment and how they can complicate even routine interactions.

“I started testing the prototype on the nurses, my coworkers, and they were super supportive of it,” he said. “I interviewed doctors, neurosurgeons, cardiac surgeons, and asked them how language barriers affect them specifically to their specialty.“

Banks and Even-Vaca became friends after working together as coaches at a swim school and then sharing a room for a week during a Schar School study-abroad program to Switzerland. Eventually, Banks recruited Even-Vaca to the Doctors United DPT project “and he immediately had ideas for it, like bringing it to refugee camps. And so we started working on it together,” Banks said.

It was during a second Schar School study-abroad trip, this one to Israel, where the work they were doing in translating medical terminology became real.

“I got sick, I couldn’t get out of bed for a day,” Even-Vaca said. “I was wondering, am I going to have to go to a doctor? I don’t know Hebrew or Arabic, and I felt a little bit hopeless.” (It turned out to be a bad cold. Still, the plane ride home was miserable.)

The app uses AI to render instantaneous translations of some 200 languages, Banks said. It was Even-Vaca’s idea, he said, to add a “confidence meter” to override AI’s sometimes questionable reliability in translations. “The judges loved it,” he said.

The cofounders are actively seeking George Mason alumni and business professors for guidance in building out the award-winning business.

“We’re trying to make more connections, networking, and raising capital,” Banks said. “We see a big demand for interpreter services in other areas, such as international forums and institutions as well as immigration law. We want to implement it around the world and bridge cultural gaps, help people, make a difference. That’s our hope, our vision.”

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Sumeya Gibril: Meet the Graduating Masters Student Whose New Nonprofit Supports Survivors of Abuse

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:13:30 +0000

Sumeya Gibril: Meet the Graduating Masters Student Whose New Nonprofit Supports Survivors of Abuse Andrew J Schappert Mon, 04/06/2026 - 15:13

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Sumeya Gibril: ‘I needed an organization like mine to come in and tell me, this is what you need to do, this is how you protect yourself.’ Photos by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Sumeya Gibril is working to turn her personal trauma into a way to help other women overcome their own adversity.

Sumeya Gibril: ‘I had nothing besides faith that I got this.’

The graduating master’s student in the Schar School of Policy and Government at 91�� created a nonprofit last May called the Rise Above & Be Relentless Foundation, a 501c (3) organization that assists women navigating sexual assault and domestic abuse. The support comes as short-term financial assistance, practical education, and a community built on understanding.

Gibril’s foundation is built around the help—especially financial—she didn’t have. As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault that began in childhood, she remembers waiting for someone to intervene. Eventually she realized, “nobody is coming to save me,” she said. “I didn’t have this foundation when I needed it.”

The inspiration for the charity, she added, “is me.”

Every other month, the organization hosts a financial literacy series, paring practical instruction with direct aid to women in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The foundation assists women with months of utility payments, child care subsidies, and, for those with military backgrounds, legal support—terrain she knows firsthand.

As a young Army soldier, she pushed assault complaints up the chain of command all the way to Congress, she said, only to realize she was “battling the legal field of the U.S. government and the military I needed outside help. I needed an organization like mine to come in and tell me, this is what you need to do, this is how you protect yourself.”

Born in Eritrea and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Gibril’s journey to the Schar School began at Northern Virginia Community College before transferring to George Mason and earning a Bachelor of Individualized Study degree in sustainable business in 2023. It took a while to earn the degree, she said, as she balanced studies with care for her young son who is on the autism spectrum. Managing his therapy, school, and the accompanying finances was daunting and isolating; she hopes the foundation can ease that burden for others.

The proud first-generation college student is now in her last semester in the Schar School’s Master of Global Commerce and Policy Program, which combines international relations with business to prepare graduates for a wide range of leadership positions. The program not only informs how she builds the nonprofit, but it also benefits her profession as a licensed customs broker, a position that entails the clearing of imported goods at U.S. borders.

Her studies are paying off, she said, not only in the facts and figures taught by the program’s faculty of scholars and practitioners but also in “just understanding people,” she said. “What do they want? What do they need? What’s motivating them?”

She’s also improved her writing skills at the Schar School. “I used to hate writing,” she said, “and now I love it.”

As with any nonprofit, fundraising is key. Gibril has been working with sponsors and donors and, with her board’s blessing, hosted an inaugural gala and a charity golf tournament, which called for learning the nuts and bolts of putting on a 60-player golf event.

“I had nothing besides faith that I got this,” she said of organizing her first golf tournament. That goes for much of what Gibril is creating.

The next golf tournament is September 28, 2026, in Haymarket, Virginia. Information is at the Rise Above & Be Relentless website.

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From Kyiv to Capitol Hill: Meet Graduating Schar School Senior Gabriella Grabovska

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:53:19 +0000

From Kyiv to Capitol Hill: Meet Graduating Schar School Senior Gabriella Grabovska Andrew J Schappert Wed, 04/01/2026 - 14:53

Gabriella Grabovska photographed in September 2022: ‘A lot of the people that I met, a lot of the opportunities that I got, and the communities that I became a part of were all a result of me deciding to get out of my comfort zone and go do things.’ Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Originally from Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv, Gabriella Grabovska moved to the United States in August 2022 to attend college, leaving her family and familiarity behind. Navigating a new country on her own, she quickly learned to balance academic rigor with the challenge of adapting to—and flourishing in—a new cultural and social environment.

Grabovska will graduate in May from 91�� with a degree in government and international politics. She also has a concentration in political behavior and identity politics and a double minor in political communication and forensic psychology.

When considering where to study, George Mason and the Schar School of Policy and Government stood out for their programs and opportunities that they offered as well as its proximity to Washington, D.C., she said.

“Looking back, I know that I wouldn’t have had all of my internships, I wouldn’t have met different politicians, members of the Cabinet, or people in my field, if I was in Connecticut or New Jersey,” she said.

The Schar School’s Undergraduate Learning Communities program played a key role in helping her get started professionally. Grabovska recalled an event hosted by the Jurisprudence Learning Community (now called the Pre-Law Learning Community) that helped her eventually secure her first internship with the Committee on House Administration, Democratic Staff. Since then, she has completed six internships, holding positions with organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that collects data on political funding.

“The Schar School became my home in the U.S., especially Democracy Lab,” she said, referencing the immersive residential learning community. “I remembered how, in my freshman year, the Schar School and the Democracy Lab really made me feel welcomed and at home."

Grabovska's résumé is so long and varied because she took advantage of all the opportunities the university and its location offered. "I couldn’t say ‘no’ to anything. If there was an opportunity in front of me, I would take it.”

Gabriella Grabovska arrived in the United States in 2022 as Russia was invading Ukraine. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

A student in the Honors College, Grabovska is also an award-winning professional ballroom dancer, president of George Mason’s European Student Association, an occasional model for the Office of University Branding, and a resident assistant for the Office of Housing and Residence Life. She also served as a deputy field organizer for NextGen America, a nonprofit that encourages political activity among young citizens. She enjoys salsa dancing for fun.

But politics, which have shaped her life since her childhood, is where her ambitions lie.

“Politics directly affected my life since I can remember—I didn’t have privilege of not talking about it,” she said.

She recited a list of dramatic political events—the 2014 Kyiv Revolution, the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022—as key events that motivated her to pursue a degree and career in politics.

Grabovska credits faculty and staff—including Associate Professor Jennifer Victor, Assistant Professor Shea Holman, Robinson Professor Steven Pearlstein, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ann M. Ludwick, and Communications Manager Buzz McClain—for their encouragement and support during her time at George Mason.

'Politics directly affected my life since I can remember—I didn’t have privilege of not talking about it.' Photo by Office of University Branding

One piece of advice that Grabovska would give to new or prospective students is to get out of their comfort zone and face their fears.

“A lot of the people that I met, a lot of the opportunities that I got, and the communities that I became a part of were all a result of me deciding to get out of my comfort zone and go do things,” she said.

She recalled an example where she met a future mentor during an internship at a law firm while waiting in the security line to enter the Capitol Hill Rayburn House Office Building in D.C. That brief introduction and its results reinforced for her the value of taking initiative.

Through her academic work, internships, and extensive involvement in campus life, Grabovska has turned her experiences into preparation for a career in politics and public service, grounded in the global perspective she brings from Ukraine and the community she found at the Schar School.

In This Story

Jennifer N. Victor

Shea M. Holman Kilian

Steven Pearlstein

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