ATLANTA – This December, 15 students from five HBCUs took home more than $52,000 in the 2025 Mastercard IGS x AUC DSI Data Challenge. A partnership between the Atlanta University Center Consortium’s Data Science Initiative and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, this annual event challenged students to employ the power of data to help communities thrive.
The eight-week data science challenge kicked off Thursday, Oct. 9 with more than 150 students representing 71 teams from 25 Historically Black Colleges and Universities participating and culminated with Grambling State University’s DataDrive team of David Nintang and Holy Agyei winning first place and walking away with $15,000.
“Over these months, I’ve watched students take complex data and interpret it through the lens of justice, community, and possibility — demonstrating not only technical expertise but a depth of insight that speaks to the transformative power of HBCUs,” said Eboni Dotson, Ph.D., assistant director of HBCU Engagement for the AUCC Data Science Initiative.
Competitors were charged to use the Center’s platform and public datasets to identify communities with an IGS score below 45, analyze barriers to inclusive growth, and design data-driven, evidence-based solutions that drive measurable social impact and increase the IGS score of the community. They were to propose interventions ranging from policy recommendations and workforce programs to AI-powered tools and digital applications, all while reflecting real community stories and local data, and showcasing how data science can transform challenges into opportunities for growth, equity, and inclusion.
However, before this competition, Nintang and Agyei were already practicing their data science skills in machine learning competitions.
“We really went into the AUCC Mastercard Science Challenge as an opportunity to learn and practice our data science skills on real-world problems,” said Nintang, a 22-year-old sophomore from Ghana, West Africa, majoring in engineering technologies and computer science.
Real-world problems are just one of the reasons Mastercard created its Center for Inclusive Growth. The Fortune 500 organization believes technology and innovation are critical for everyone to achieve full economic potential. With DSI’s mission to advance data science by engaging students and faculty with external stakeholders that develop innovations in research and best practices, collaborating with Mastercard provided a maximum opportunity, particularly as its Center seeks to address racial wealth and opportunity gaps with a $500 million commitment to Black communities in the U.S.
Nintang and Agyei entered the competition with the mindset of learning rather than winning.
“We wanted to fully own the prompt and build something realistic, clear and innovative,” said sophomore Agyei, 21, also a Ghanaian, who studies computer science at Grambling. “Our strategy was to make our story dominant throughout the presentation – identifying one root cause, supporting it with simple but strong statistical patterns, and proposing a data-backed solution that anyone could follow.”
That intentional approach paid off, not only in their performance, but in how each students plan to invest in what comes next. Nintang will use his winnings to support graduate studies. Agyei will use the winnings to support his current education and skill development by accessing paid tools and dependencies needed for advanced machine learning projects. The rest of his money will go toward postgraduate goals.
In addition to Nintang and Agyei, their fellow GSU classmates, Uchechukwu Alih and Stecy Chirinda, both juniors, team Data Forge came in third-place to win $5,800.
“I went into the challenge thinking it would be a great opportunity to apply the data skills I’ve gained through certifications and coursework,” said Alih, 21, a double major in computer science and mathematics, who plans on pursuing a career in software engineering at a major tech company such as Google or Amazon.
Other winners included two second-place teams – Troy Tech, representing Favour Adesoye and Elisha Barnes of Virginia State University; Team 14: Inclusive Insights & Impact Innovators, representing Sambridhi Deo and Kanchan Thapa of Fisk University – with each team receiving $10,000. Finally, there were two more third-place teams – Team Djono from North Carolina A&T, composed of Adjovi Laba, Ebitu Ukiwe and Misan Esimaje; the Tornadoes from Talladega College, made up of Thabhelo Duve, Ayomikun Oyeniyi, Oluwatosin Oseni and Izuchukwu Mba; as well as GSU’s DataForge, with each team receiving $5,800.
“Through the support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and its ongoing partnership, the Data Challenge continues to demonstrate what is possible when we empower HBCU students with real datasets, community-centered problems, and committed industry mentors,” said Jamal Ware, program coordinator for Student Development, Data Science Initiative. “Each year, these students prove that data science is not just technical work; it is a pathway to designing more equitable futures.”
