Research indicates that approximately 3.5 million children under the age of 14 in North America do not participate in sports due to physical disabilities, genetic disorders, or other chronic health conditions. Unlimited Potential envisions a world where children facing challenges have the tools to overcome them, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can participate in school sports.
Rakshith Srinivasan, a driven high school student from Eastside Preparatory School, Kirkland, WA, has founded a nonprofit organization called Unlimited Potential (UP). UP is dedicated to generating awareness and fundraising for sports medicine research, aiming to empower children with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions to participate in school sports with ease. Rakshith Srinivasan’s passion for sports medicine research and STEM awareness has led him to create UP and make a difference in the lives of young athletes within the community.
Unlimited Potential focuses on collaborating with sports medicine researchers, sports medicine research labs, orthopedic doctors and universities to raise awareness about groundbreaking research and to secure funds for hospitals and labs across North America.
The organization supports research initiatives that have resulted in significant breakthroughs such as prosthetics, bionics, stem cell therapies, CAR-T cell therapies, and other innovative treatments, maximizing their affordability and availability.
“Our mission at Unlimited Potential is to generate awareness within our communities about game-changing research in sports medicine and to raise funds for researchers and doctors working on complex medical problems. We believe accelerating research, and enabling affordability should ultimately lead to enabling our vision of – No Wheel Chairs by 2050″! said Rakshith Srinivasan, the founder of Unlimited Potential.
UP operates as a network of passionate high school students who are actively engaged in sports and have a keen interest in science and research. These student volunteers collaborate with doctors and medical researchers from renowned organizations such as Seattle Children’s, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Special Olympics of Washington and the University of Washington’s Institute of Sports Medicine. Through these partnerships, the volunteers gain insights into the research, understand its impact, and actively contribute to fundraising efforts.
Since its establishment in 2020, Unlimited Potential has achieved significant milestones. With ten full-time volunteers and over 600 part-time volunteers across North America, the organization has made substantial strides in advocating for sports medicine research within local communities. These efforts have resulted in the cultivation of over 500 grassroots donors. Contributions from these donors have supported eight research programs in areas such as prosthetics, bionics, muscular dystrophy, skeletal dysplasia, limb deformities, bone cancer, athlete mental health, and human-centered design.
Since its inception, UP campaigns played a pivotal role in raising $100,000 for research through community donors in their respective school districts. The funds were subsequently presented to researchers at labs such as Seattle Children’s Orthopedic Research Lab and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center to name a few.
Team Unlimited Potential has assembled a dedicated advisory board of like-minded leaders who mentor the volunteers. This advisory team assists in research selection, donor discussions, campaign planning, fundraising activities, and facilitates introductions to researchers and doctors.
UP’s founder, Rakshith Srinivasan has written a book, “Overcoming Obstacles” which details the cutting-edge research happening in the field of sports science and research. The sales from the book will 100% go to the fundraising campaigns conducted by Unlimited Potential
“Overcoming Obstacles“, can be purchase in online version or paperback from Barns and Noble, Rakuten Kobo, Goodreads and Amazon.
