Our story

The Wellness Effect is run by student-athletes at the University of Maryland. This organization, formally known as “Students for Wellness”, was founded by Kirstin Nichols, a Master’s student in the School of Public Health.

Kirstin knew that she wanted to use her fifth and final year at UMD to create a program for social good, specifically in the field of health communication, but was unsure of how to get started. In joining the UMD Do Good Institute’s Impact Bootcamp, she was able to start brainstorming and refining plans. After becoming a Spring 2025 Do Good Accelerator Fellow, she began bringing these ideas to reality.

By working with Maryland Made, a collaboration was created with College Park Academy, a local public charter school. Kirstin teamed up with the Pre-Health Terps, a student-led organization comprised of UMD student-athletes entering health professions, and began working with the CPA after-school “Wellness Club”. There, Kirstin and fellow student-athletes mentored middle school students as they created health campaign material about a topic of their choosing!

We at The Wellness Effect are very excited to keep growing and increasing impact. Good health - it’s contagious!