The D-Max Effect is a six-week student leadership program for high school classrooms. Students pick a real need in their community, partner with a local nonprofit, and lead the project from the first idea to the final count, with adults and community partners opening doors beside them.
Students bring the ideas. Communities open the doors. Together, they make real change possible.
What if leadership didn’t start with a title - but with showing up?
3,000+ BIRTHDAY CAKE ITEMS COLLECTED
~
1,233 HYGIENE ITEMS DELIVERED THROUGH CLASSROOM BASED PROJECTS
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THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS RAISED TO FIGHT FOOD INSECURITY
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3,000+ BIRTHDAY CAKE ITEMS COLLECTED ~ 1,233 HYGIENE ITEMS DELIVERED THROUGH CLASSROOM BASED PROJECTS ~ THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS RAISED TO FIGHT FOOD INSECURITY ~
Most students have never been asked what they could build with the people already in their lives. The D-Max Effect asks. Over six weeks, a class chooses a community need, partners with a nonprofit, sets a goal that actually stretches them, and leads the project from the first idea to the final count.
The ideas, decisions, and projects belong to the students. Adults provide guidance, introductions, encouragement, and support. Lisa launches the work and coaches along the way. Nobody hands the students a finished project, and nobody takes theirs over.
WHAT IS THE D-MAX EFFECT?
Leadership doesn’t start with a title. It starts with action.
THE FRAMEWORK
The framework began with one student. Dorian was seven years old when Heart of Maine United Way named him Volunteer of the Year in 2020. The recognition mattered, but what changed him was simpler: adults listened to his ideas, opened doors, and helped him bring them to life. Since 2020, his efforts have helped raise more than $20,000 in monetary contributions and donated goods for community causes. The D-Max Effect gives more students that same experience: an idea of their own, and a community willing to take it seriously.
BUILT FOR ACTION
WHO IT’S FOR
THIS WASN’T VOLUNTEERISM. THIS WAS LEADERSHIP
United Technologies Center
ONE ASK. 1,233 ITEMS COLLECTED.
In the UMaine classroom pilots, business students planned and ran their own projects — raising more than $6,400 for local nonprofits.
University of Maine
$6400+RAISED FOR NONPROFIT
Business students at UTC partnered with Neighbors Supporting Neighbors — collecting 1,233 items in the program’s first project and showing how a focused student-led project can move an entire community.
THE 6-WEEK PROGRAM
HOW IT WORKS
01
KICKOFF CALL
Lisa launches the six-week program with your class and frames the challenge ahead.
IN THEIR WORDS
"I’m amazed, yet again, at how powerful collaboration is. Watching our class raise nearly $7,000 in just three weeks was a powerful reminder of how easy it is to create real impact while learning invaluable leadership."
— University Student
02
PICK A PROJECT
Students spot a real problem in their school or community, then choose the one they'll solve.
03
MAKE IT REAL
They plan it, raise the money, and do the work, with Lisa checking in along the way.
BY THE NUMBERS
THE IMPACT
$20,000+
raised since 2020
$4,000+
in bicycles for the Boys & Girls Club
5,000+
birthday cake items collected
~$7,000
raised by a single college class
2,500
cereal boxes collected
1,233
items in the first UTC project
"This project helped show us how to adapt when you have due dates and people relying on you."
— UMaine Business Student
04
SHARE THE IMPACT
The class celebrates, counts the results, and shares their impact story with the community.
"What mattered most wasn't the money — it was how engaged and invested every student became. The D-Max Effect showed them their ideas can create real change. They can be the ones who start it.
— Rebecca Willette
A D-Max Amplifier is a student leader, 16 or older, who has already made a real difference in their school or community. They're nominated by a teacher or counselor, complete a free 3-hour training, and present a five-minute story of the impact they made. Then they're certified to join virtual D-Max Effect classrooms alongside an adult facilitator and inspire other students to step up.
BECOME A CERTIFIED D-MAX AMPLIFIER
Book Lisa for a keynote, a workshop or training, or the full six-week D-Max Effect program, right in your classroom. Send us your date and your group size, and we'll confirm within two business days and plan the session with you.