ASU Students Sweep 2021 USAID PSA Contest

TEMPE, AZ — Arizona State University was well represented at the 15th annual Public Service Announcements for International Disasters contest.

Sun Devils won all three categories of the contest, which is put together by the U.S. Agency for International Development's Center for International Disaster Information. ASU was the first school ever to sweep the contest, which includes print, video and digital image public service announcements.

The contest challenged college students to put together PSAs for disaster relief. The PSAs that students created were supposed to show why monetary donations are a more effective way to support international disaster relief efforts than in-kind donations, the agency said.

Cash donations, unlike donations of food, water and clothing, are not expensive to ship and allow disaster organizations to purchase what they need to assist the local populations in the areas affected.

Among the winners from ASU were students Lindsay Prester (first place, video), Katherine Giedraitis (first place, print) and Mario Ramirez (first place, digital image).

Arizona State University lecturer Lisa Pena said she has incorporated the contest into her curriculum for years because of the importance of helping disaster assistance organizations.

“My fellow ASU colleagues and I are extremely proud of our students,” Pena said. “The visual work they produced encourages kindness, giving and supporting people during their time of need. We believe their work demonstrates how design can have a positive impact on society.”

Other ASU winners included Casey Beauparlant (second place, digital image), Charity Chong (third place, digital image), Amber Blain (second place, print), Nathan Evans (third place, print), Emily Van Camp and Nghi Tran (second place, video) and Thom Kim and Connor Wodynski (third place, video).

To view the students' PSAs, visit the contest website.