Whether to fulfill graduation requirements or follow a passion for giving back, high school students now have a new way to discover service opportunities. Vouchd, a Northwestern-founded startup, is designed to connect high schoolers with causes that matter.
Vouchd was kickstarted through The Garage, a space dedicated to supporting students interested in entrepreneurship. The startup’s three-sided platform serves students, guidance counselors and nonprofits seeking to engage young people in meaningful community service experiences.
Founder and CEO Nina Kronengold (Weinberg ’25) said she launched the startup after a personal struggle to discover meaningful ways to support causes important to her.
“The only way that I was able to find out about opportunities at the end of the day was through a mom’s friend of a friend,” Kronengold said. “What I realized is there’s this huge word-of-mouth pipeline within the world of volunteering, and started to question, why is there not a way to find niche opportunities that really connect to what you care about online?”
Recognizing the challenge, Kronengold said she initially intended to build the product for high school and college students as a resource for them to integrate volunteering regularly into their lives.
Kronengold said the team’s interviews with high school and college students revealed a range of motivations. While many high school students volunteer to fulfill graduation requirements, college students often see service as a way to strengthen their resumes, she said.
Other team members echoed Kronengold’s focus on listening and adaptability. Weinberg senior and Vouchd growth strategist Maria Chebli said over 100 interviews with nonprofits highlighted the challenge of retaining high school students, especially after investing time in training and oversight.
Chebli said interviews with students and nonprofits provided data on the needs of their target audience to make a product that solved a concrete problem.
“The goal was not to create a solution to a problem that didn’t exist,” Chebli said. “From the very beginning, we were very driven to create supply based on the demand.”
Kronengold said the team then developed a “minimum viable product,” a student survey with questions about interests, which simulates the initial profiles of the platform. Evanston Township High School students tested the survey.
Second-year computer science graduate student Medini Chopra said she focused on website development for Vouchd, creating an intuitive platform design for students and nonprofits alike.
“There had to be nothing complicated,” Chopra said. “The information architecture has to be seamless enough that a student, or anyone (with) a low attention span, would not have too many things to think about.”
The team piloted Vouchd at the Chicago Math and Science Academy in the spring. Fifteen nonprofits onboarded for the launch, including the Evanston Art Center.
Post-pilot feedback surveys informed the team of its usability and potential future changes to improve the user experience, Chopra said.
The startup members initially met through The Garage’s Propel Program, which provided financial support and mentorship to aspiring female entrepreneurs. Kronengold said the program gave her the resources and confidence to move forward with Vouchd.
Chopra said the lessons she learned at The Garage extended beyond entrepreneurship. In an era where artificial intelligence is often seen as the default solution, Vouchd reminded her that listening to people can sometimes be more effective than advanced technology, she said.
“Everything does not require an AI solution,” Chopra said. “There are problems that exist in the world, which people just need to be listening to, and it exists. And further the fact that those problems don’t always require AI solutions.”
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