2025 winners tackling community resources, student mentorships, and digital literacy in their hometowns
Three first-year students at Presbyterian College are already leaving their mark on the world through innovative solutions to pressing community challenges. Their work earned top honors in PC’s 2025 Service Entrepreneurship Competition (SEC), a program that provides full scholarships and startup support to students whose projects embody the college’s motto, “While We Live, We Serve.”
The winners – Drayven Hallman of Sumter, Anya Mack of Kingstree, and Sarah Danbury of Blythewood – stood out for their ability to turn lived experiences into practical, sustainable plans for positive change.
A Competition with Impact
The Service Entrepreneurship Competition was designed to do more than reward good ideas. Winners receive scholarships, course credit, and ongoing coaching to transform their projects into real-world ventures.
Dr. Ben Bailey, associate professor of political science and public policy and director of the Service Entrepreneurship program, said this year’s winners exemplify what the competition was created to achieve.
“This year’s student winners really stand out because their plan is to tackle issues in their communities with solutions that are practical,” Bailey said. “They aren’t just solving short-term problems but creating long-term and sustainable solutions that will improve the resiliency of their communities.”
Since its inception in 2021, the SEC has grown into more than a scholarship contest. It now supports an entrepreneurial ecosystem at PC, including a service entrepreneurship academic minor, structured mentoring, and dedicated collaborative space for student innovators.
“The kinds of students that elect to participate in the competition are the kinds of students that thrive at PC,” Bailey added. “Creative thinkers who want to do something truly meaningful and impactful with their lives.”
Hallman’s Vision: A Family Resource Center
Overall winner Drayven Hallman arrived at PC with a project already underway in his hometown. A graduate of Sumter schools and a former foster child at Crosswell Home for Children, Hallman volunteered with a nonprofit network that inspired him to propose a Family Resource Center.
The idea is simple but powerful: bring multiple nonprofits under one roof to better serve families who otherwise struggle to access essential services.
“The Sumter community, like many others, has resources,” Hallman explained. “The problem is availability to the people who are actually struggling. A single mother who needs childcare, housing, and transportation has to go to multiple nonprofits. The Family Resource Center breaks those silos and provides tailored care in one place.”
Hallman’s proposal, written for the SEC, has already become a working plan in Sumter. His paper and presentation materials are now used as pamphlets and handouts for the community committee shaping the project.
Winning the SEC was life-changing for Hallman.
“It was surreal, honestly,” he said. “The competition was the difference in me coming to PC and not coming to PC. Knowing that I was able to go to my number one school, and at the same time help my community, was the best feeling.”
Hallman said PC’s welcoming environment affirmed his decision. He has already set his sights on the future, hoping to attend medical school to study psychiatry or drug counseling.
“Coming from foster care, I’ve seen the mental health crisis firsthand,” he said. “My end goal is to give back to the community that raised me.”
Mack’s Mission: Mentorship and Tutoring
Runner-up Anya Mack grew up in Kingstree in Williamsburg County – one of South Carolina’s largest counties by land but not by population. The community’s economic struggles, combined with low graduation and career readiness rates, motivated Mack to design a mentorship and tutoring program for middle and high school students.
Her plan pairs students with mentors, community leaders, businesses, and peers to improve academics while also building confidence, leadership, and motivation.
“If you don’t complete high school, you don’t have a diploma or degree,” Mack said. “That means you can’t get a job, own a home, or buy cars. When a lot of people are in that situation, the community suffers. I wanted to create something that would change that cycle.”
Mack admitted that PC was not her top choice initially. But when she discovered the SEC, she realized the competition aligned with her passion for service and entrepreneurship.
“I chose to compete because it was a commitment to leadership, service, and community,” she said. “It lined up with what I wanted to do, and I’m extremely grateful it did.”
Planning to major in business, Mack has embraced the new service entrepreneurship minor, where she will receive mentorship and guidance from Bailey and other faculty.
Even in her first semester, she has immersed herself in campus life – joining organizations, working a campus job, and mapping out the next steps for her program.
“Even if I don’t go through with my project exactly as planned, I know I can still serve different communities through Presbyterian College,” she said. “That’s what excites me.”
Danbury’s Cause: Bridging the Digital Divide
Honorable mention winner Sarah Danbury brought a very different perspective to the competition. A cross country runner and political science major from Blythewood, she focused on the digital literacy gap among senior citizens.
Citing research that 40 percent of seniors over 60 are not online, and that nearly $2 billion was lost last year to scams targeting older adults, Danbury proposed a digital literacy nonprofit. Her program will offer training sessions in libraries, senior living facilities, and other public spaces to help seniors access resources and navigate the internet safely.
“So much of life today is moving online,” Danbury said. “If you don’t know how to use it, it’s frustrating and potentially hazardous. I wanted to create a program that would make a real difference for older adults.”
Judges encouraged her to expand the model by partnering with physicians who could refer patients in need of digital training. Her plan is set to launch in the spring, and she has already begun building the curriculum.
PC has provided resources to help her get started, including mentoring and access to new collaborative facilities on campus.
While Danbury’s long-term plan is to attend law school, she said her SEC project will strengthen her academic journey.
“This may not be directly connected to my career,” she said, “but it will help me get there. And it’s already given me opportunities to make an impact.”
A Program Built to Last
For Bailey, watching the SEC grow has been one of the highlights of his career.
“It feels tremendous knowing that we built this competition and the broader program to last,” he said. “When we started, the hope was that students would take an idea, grow with it over time, and carry it forward as part of their journey at PC and beyond. The growth in their ability to tackle problems with innovative solutions is astonishing.”
Bailey said meeting high school students who want to solve problems that affect their families and communities excites him year after year.
“These are the kinds of students we want at PC,” he said. “The Service Entrepreneurship Competition is about giving them the tools and opportunities to succeed while making a difference.”
Living the Motto
For Hallman, Mack, and Danbury, PC’s motto is more than words on a seal. Each student connected their motivation back to “While We Live, We Serve” – the guiding principle of the college.
Hallman saw it reflected in the community that welcomed him to campus. Mack said it confirmed her belief that PC was a place where she could build programs that uplift others. Danbury experienced it in the support network that encouraged her to turn an idea into action.
Their journeys are just beginning, but Bailey said the program’s impact is already clear.
“Having the competition and the service entrepreneurship program is cultivating an entrepreneurial ecosystem at PC,” he said. “Our students are building networks, ventures, and futures rooted in service. That’s what makes this program so special.”
Looking Ahead
As PC prepares for the next round of competition this fall, the 2025 winners are already laying the groundwork for projects that will outlast their college careers.
For Hallman, it’s the dream of a family resource center that reshapes access to social services. For Mack, it’s the vision of a mentorship network that lifts up an entire generation of students. For Danbury, it’s the drive to give seniors the tools to navigate the digital age safely.
Together, they represent the future of PC’s Service Entrepreneurship Competition – a future where students don’t just imagine change, but create it.
