Alumni Excellence Award Recipient: Lyric Amodia MBA ’25

During a family visit at age 12 to Flint, Michigan, Lyric Amodia MBA ’25 saw, firsthand, the effects of what would later become known as the Flint Water Crisis. 

From 2014-2019, tap water contaminated with lead and bacteria sickened thousands in the city of Flint and led to a dozen deaths, forcing residents to rely on bottled water. 

“I was really confused,” says Amodia, who at the time was living abroad with her active-duty military parents. “I was spending half my year in Germany, where healthcare is universal and people are at the center of policy decisions; and then the other half in Flint, where something as basic as clean water wasn’t being treated as a human right.” 

Amodia went on to design and sell a T-shirt featuring an upside-down water bottle that formed the “1” in Flint’s "810" area code. On the back, was a message: “If you’re reading this, Flint still needs your help.” 

Over time, news coverage of Flint's water crisis dwindled and she found herself being troubled by a nagging question: Why did national attention and urgency disappear once the news cameras left? This is why, during her undergraduate years at Howard University, Amodia launched her nonprofit, The Movement Street (TMS).

As CEO of the organization, Amodia sought to reimagine the definition of volunteerism. While most Americans say that they want to serve their communities, Amodia says only about a quarter of the country volunteers on an annual basis. 

The problem, she realized, wasn’t apathy. It was access. 

TMS offered a remedy. It builds creative, accessible pathways into service: community gardens, wellness festivals, arts galas, water drives, food pantries, financial literacy workshops and virtual volunteer opportunities for people who lack time or transportation. "Events feel less like chores and more like cookouts, reunions, or nights out with friends," Amodia says.

“We treat it like family,” she adds. “That’s why people keep coming back.” 

Amodia oversees a network of more than 150 members at chapters across Flint, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina and collegiate chapters at institutions including Howard University and the University of Maryland. Each organization operates with its own leadership, programming and community focus; a deliberately replicable model designed for long-term sustainability. 

“You can start as a high school volunteer, move into a college chapter, and then into a city chapter as a young professional,” Amodia says. “It’s cyclical. That’s how you build culture, not just one-off moments.” 

The impact extends beyond service hours. TMS installs Little Free Libraries, hosts health screenings and wellness services, distributes fresh produce directly from community gardens, and offers “dream funding” through scholarships and micro-grants. The goal isn’t just aid, it’s also to provide a higher quality of life to marginalized communities. 

“Access to water is healthcare. Food equity is healthcare. Financial literacy is healthcare,” Amodia says. “All of it is connected.” 

Today, Amodia lives in Spain, teaching English while continuing to lead TMS remotely. She has plans to expand the organization in the United States and internationally. “Without volunteers, nothing moves,” Amodia says. “Change happens through consistent, collective effort.”