When Rishaan Nagar ’26 first began volunteering with SquashSmarts in the spring of 2024, he was drawn to the nonprofit’s unique blend of academics and athletics. As both a squash player and a student passionate about technology and innovation, he quickly recognized an opportunity to make a broader impact through his work with Penn’s Social Innovators Program. “I wanted to do more than just volunteer,” Rishaan says. “I wanted to help SquashSmarts expand their reach and make it easier for others to get involved.”

That idea grew into Squash The Gap, a volunteer initiative he developed in collaboration with SquashSmarts to connect students, families, and community members from the Main Line with service opportunities in Philadelphia. “A lot of people want to volunteer but don’t know where to start,” he explains. “Squash The Gap bridges that gap—literally—by linking volunteers to programs that need support.” Since launching, the initiative has attracted a wide range of participants, from middle school students to graduate students at Penn and Drexel.

Through the website he built, Rishaan collects information from interested volunteers—such as their age, skills, and availability—and then helps match them with opportunities at SquashSmarts. The site has now been featured directly on the SquashSmarts website, expanding its visibility and helping more volunteers find their way to service. He also manages outreach to local schools, coordinating with five or six Main Line institutions that now share Squash The Gap in their newsletters. “People sign up through the form on the site, and I connect them with SquashSmarts based on their interests,” he says. “It’s been exciting to see how word of mouth keeps spreading.”

Rishaan’s project began as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Innovators Program, an entrepreneurship and social impact course he completed during his junior year at Shipley. The experience taught him valuable lessons about outreach, resilience, and what he calls “rejection therapy,” a way of embracing setbacks as opportunities. “You learn that not every idea takes off right away,” he says. “You have to keep connecting with people and finding the right audience.”

At Shipley, Rishaan has found support for his ideas through mentors like STEAM Department Chair, Dr. Roberta Brandão, who encouraged his interest in technology through robotics and Python courses and his leadership in the Acorn Tech Club. He’s also appreciated how easily Shipley students can share initiatives within the community. “It’s simple to get your message out—any student can post announcements or opportunities,” he says.

For Rishaan, the motivation behind Squash The Gap comes down to one thing: using what he has to make a difference. “Real impact can be made through community engagement and civic participation,” he says. “It’s not as complicated as it seems. You just have to take that first step.”

Learn more at https://www.squashsmarts.org/volunteer.html. Follow Squash The Gap on Instagram @squashthegap.