By Kat Branchman/ASU
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A team of Alabama State University communications students proved innovation knows no academic boundaries, earning runner-up honors in the second annual Bank of Ideas Challenge, a business plan competition hosted by Regions Bank that brought together students from Alabama State University and Alabama A&M University to develop solutions for the future of banking.
Competing against teams largely comprised of business, finance and accounting students, ASU's Hive Minds team impressed judges with Regions Next Play, an innovative financial literacy platform designed to help student-athletes build stronger financial habits through artificial intelligence, gamification and personalized learning tools.
The Hive Minds team, advised by Dr. Lesley Byrd, included communication majors Elvis Ravinia, Tiffany Davis, Zaylen Burke and Nyla Smith. The team's presentation featured a live skit and video interviews with student-athletes before the team unveiled their app concept, which centered on three key areas: time, access and trust.
Regions Next Play featured an AI-powered assistant designed to help users learn about taxes, savings and other financial topics, along with a gamified learning system and personalized avatars that allow users to track their financial progress. The team emphasized creating an educational, customizable and user-friendly experience for young adults navigating financial decisions.
While Alabama A&M's Bulldog Boys team earned first-place honors, the Hive Minds were named runner-up and received MacBook Neo computers for their presentation.
For the team members, the experience was about more than the awards.
"We're feeling proud. We're feeling grateful. We feel like we accomplished what we came to do. It wasn't about winning first place. It was about winning something more, and that was friendship," Zaylan said following the competition.
Another team member reflected on the opportunity to collaborate with peers throughout the process.
"The main takeaway I got from this was just getting to work with this team. It's been an amazing experience working with all of them, and I'm just really happy I got to do that, "Elvis said.
As the only communication-focused team among many business and finance competitors, Hive Minds embraced its role as an underdog.
"We knew we were the underdogs because this is a business competition," Nyla said. "But being the underdog is not always a bad thing. You're unexpected, so we brought the unexpected. We brought the change, the innovation."
The students said their success demonstrated the versatility of communication skills in business and technology settings.
Dr. Byrd, a proud Alabama State University communications alumna, said she was honored to guide the team through the challenge.
"I was thrilled to be involved with project-based learning, where students get to experience real-world scenarios that have real rewards," Byrd said.
She said seeing a team of communications majors advance to the top of a competition dominated by students from business and finance disciplines was especially rewarding.
The Bank of Ideas Challenge featured student-developed solutions addressing real-world banking challenges, including young adult banking, fintech innovation and student-athlete financial success. Students were evaluated on creativity, impact, feasibility, and overall presentation effectiveness.
Alabama State University was represented by three teams in the competition. In addition to Hive Minds, student participants included
Claire Madubuike, creator of the financial guidance app Oasis under the direction of Dr. Collier, and the Trail Blazers team, advised by Professor Krystal Tron and Dr. Keith Cole, consisting of Gabrielle Pierre, Mariah Cole, Kareem Bennett, Camren Caldwell and Ciara Mercer.
The competition culminated at Regions Field in Birmingham, where finalists presented their ideas before Regions executives and banking leaders.
For the Hive Minds team, the runner-up finish served as proof that creativity, storytelling and innovative thinking can compete with the best ideas in any room.
"By our own style, we brought something different," Smith said.
"Everyone in here were business majors, but we were the communications people and still won."