Raymond and Ashish first crossed paths at Grahamwood Elementary School over a chessboard. From regional tournaments to national championships, they always found a way to face each other as competitors. Two sharp minds pushing each other to be better.
The rivalry followed them to White Station Middle School, until one day it stopped. They joined Science Olympiad together and learned something: they were better as a team. Multiple first place finishes at the regional and state levels followed. A real friendship grew out of those wins.
At White Station High School, that friendship found its purpose. Raymond and Ashish co-founded AImpact, a student organization that trains young people to apply artificial intelligence to public health problems facing Memphis. What started as an idea between two former chess competitors became a movement.
Behind AImpact was a wound that ran deeper.
Someone close to them lost a parent to overdose. That kind of loss does not leave you. For Raymond and Ashish, a crisis they had only read about became personal. They looked closer. Memphis had been losing people for years. Neighbors. Parents. Friends. The numbers confirmed what they already felt in their own community.
They refused to look away.
MOPbot, the Memphis Overdose Prevention Chatbot, was born from that decision. Through AImpact, they built a tool designed to meet people where they are. Available around the clock. No judgment. One purpose: to save lives.
Two kids who once faced each other across a chessboard are now fighting the same fight. Not for a trophy. For the city that raised them, and for every life Memphis cannot afford to lose.