Maximilian Goetz – Fall 2020 Award Recipient

Max is a first year student at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Since his 9th grade year in April of 2017, Max has been running a non-profit called Robotics for All, where he provides education in robotics for underrepresented students.

Max initially got the idea to start this nonprofit after volunteering with Kidizens in 8th grade and Reading Partners in 9th. Going from a for-pay organization to a free program showed him the gap in education quality, and it has been his goal since to bridge the gap by offering the same high quality education for free to underserved communities. Additionally, Max noticed that there was a lack of after school enrichment programs especially in fields of STEM, so he began his journey of building Robotics for All.

Since then, Max has expanded his organization into a national 501(c)(3) non profit organization and continued to increase the reach of Robotics for All. Especially during the pandemic, his organization has been able to expand exponentially, going from 500 students to over 1,000 students who have completed the program. Additionally, organization volunteers went up from 30 to 200, classes expanded due to the online setting.

The first group Max’s project has impacted are the over 1,000 students that have gone through the program. The second group that Robotics 4 All has impacted are the high school and college students who are able to volunteer with the students to learn not only how to teach but create meaningful connections.

Through his project, Max has learned to work with others, respectfully disagree, and communicate with peers in an in person and virtual setting. In an interview with him, he stated that working with Robotics 4 All and leading a team has given him skills that are not replicable in school or internships. Additionally, he has learned to be more compassionate with others and truly understand the community around him.

In the future, Max hopes to continue expanding his organization to reach even more students and volunteers. And, when the pandemic subsides, he hopes to continue offering a few virtual classes in order to create a hybrid mix. See more about his project here. See his award interview here.