Project Pollinator founder Ivan "Sito" Rodriguez was recognized by the National Geographic Society's Slingshot Challenge, and the $1,000 award became the seed funding for a new nonprofit.
Project Pollinator founder Ivan "Sito" Rodriguez was named a Significant Achievement Award recipient in the 2026 National Geographic Society Slingshot Challenge, a program that invites young people to submit practical solutions to environmental challenges.
Sito's entry began with an ordinary walk through Columbus with his father. Passing a vacant lot on the city's west side, he saw something most people walk past without a second look: a place where native plants and insects could thrive.
That idea was first called Pollinated by You! — a plan to create small reserves of native habitat in empty lots, school grounds, and other overlooked corners of the city.
The award came with $1,000, which Sito put toward establishing Project Pollinator as a formal nonprofit organization. The recognition also brought something harder to measure: confirmation that a student's idea about his own neighborhood was worth taking seriously.
Project Pollinator is grateful to the National Geographic Society and to the educators and mentors who encouraged the work behind the entry.
Project Pollinator is a youth-led 501(c)(3) public charity in Columbus, Ohio. Get involved or review our transparency details.