Ramsey Family Innovation Award

The Ramsey Family Innovation Fund, established through gifts from family and friends in memory of Sarah Ramsey, has created the Ramsey Family Innovation Award. The award aims to inspire students to apply their creativity and innovation to making a positive impact on the world, just as Sarah did in her all-too-short life.

  • $100,000 commitment (2024 – 2029)

  • Supports one team for the Summer Startup Accelerator Program at RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • Annual award to a team of student entrepreneurs who strive for long-lasting social impact and/or business model transformation

  • The selected team (up to 4 members) works full-time over the RIT summer semester to develop their entrepreneurial vision into a transformational business or service that impacts the lives of others. The Ramsey Innovation Team will have unique opportunities to leverage ideas and network with industry-specific Innovation Advisors through the Sarah Ramsey Strong Fund.

2024 Award Recipients

The idea of OnCall started in 2019 when founder Joshua Michaels witnessed his mother’s struggle to find coverage for her nursing home, where she was a staffing coordinator. “At the time, being a staffing coordinator was like being a magician because you had to make nurses appear out of nowhere,” said Ms. Michaels.

Later that year, Joshua worked his first job at a nursing home, where he saw firsthand the issues affecting nurses and how nurses are among the most important yet undervalued positions in the healthcare industry.

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  • Joshua Michaels

    The OnCall’s team lead and marketing director. From founding organizations for young musicians to launching a startup for nurses, he is a dynamic force of innovation and dedication.

  • Nemesis "Neme" Valazquez

    The UI/UX Designer for the platform. She uses her skills in both programming and art to create interactive experiences that keep up with emerging technologies.

  • Chad Chapman

    The background engineer for the platform. Fascinated by computers and programming from a young age, he is a computer scientist possessing interests that span the field of computing with focuses on software engineering, system administrations and cybersecurity.

  • Emmanuel Boakye

    Front-end engineer for the project. He as always had a fascination for Neuroscience and it’s intersection with technology.