Deadline: 29 June 2020
If given the right resources at the right time, does your work have the potential to elevate humanity and inspire others to act as engines for social good? If so, join the Elevate Prize.
The Elevate Prize is looking for leaders, innovators, activists, and risk-takers who are impacting their community every day.
The Elevate Prize is seeking to find, support, and shine a spotlight on these Global Heroes, creating a multiplier effect that will allow them to more easily scale their work, impact more lives, and inspire others to tackle issues in their own communities – igniting a chain reaction of goodness across the world.
Specifically, they are looking for extraordinary people leading high-impact projects and organizations who are:
- Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behind
- Elevating issues and their solutions by building awareness and driving action to solve the most difficult problems of our world
- Elevating understanding of and between people through changing people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
The Elevate Prize will celebrate and support 10 extraordinary leaders, activists, innovators and risk-takers each year, working across sectors, issues and geographies.
The Elevate Prize Foundation launched The Elevate Prize powered by MIT Solve to awaken the hero in everyone. The Prize will award up to USD $5 million annually to multiple Global Heroes, as well as offer valuable resources for two years after being selected, helping amplify their work and build a massive movement to galvanize people all over the world to do good in their own community.
Benefits
The Elevate Prize will provide Global Heroes with:
- A minimum prize of US$300,000 spread over two years, with potential for additional funding.
- Professional management and development services, mentorship and coaching, educational training, capacity building, and connection with influencers, industry leaders, and experts through Elevate Prize Foundation’s two-year program.
- A tailored media and marketing campaign aimed at amplifying their work, building recognition and a fan base around the Global Hero, and ultimately inspiring others to contribute to the public good.
- Access to a dynamic network of Elevate Prize Global Heroes and partners.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Elevate Prize is open to applicants with a demonstrated history of catalyzing social and/or environmental impact through their work and leadership. They are looking for people with enormous energy, talent, open hearts, and open minds – who have the potential to greatly expand their reach, inspire the hearts and minds of others, and contribute to elevating humanity on a global scale.
- Specifically, The Elevate Prize is seeking Global Heroes who are:
- Transformational and Innovative Leaders: Those who are addressing big, critical issues in their communities with powerful, tangible solutions. People with the talent, skills, background, and experience to create lasting, positive impact, and inspire the hearts and minds of others, thereby helping to elevate others on a global scale.
- Purpose-Driven: They want to know why you are doing this work, why the issues you are tackling are important to you and your community, results to date, and how you and your work can inspire others.
- Problem Solvers: Are your ideas and implementation innovative, your messaging more effective? Do you have the ability to persevere and transform obstacles into opportunities? Have you been successful to date?
- Radically Diverse: Whether you are an entrepreneur in Haiti, an artist in Bangladesh, a technologist in Germany, an activist in Brazil, or a doctor in Egypt, they want to hear from you! The Elevate Prize will select Global Heroes from across all regions and industries.
- Resilient: They want to learn about your challenges and failures and how you have overcome them.
At a Tipping Point: You’ve already driven impact through your work and are well-positioned to do much more and inspire others to make change using the significantly larger audience and range of resources offered by The Elevate Prize.
- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact our lives, The Elevate Prize Foundation recognizes that there are heroes all over the world who are putting their health and safety at risk to treat those infected and save lives. Now more than ever, it is critical to recognize and uplift those who are elevating humanity by preparing for, detecting, and responding to emerging pandemics and health security threats. Therefore, The Elevate Prize has committed to select at least one Solver from the MIT Solve Global Challenge on Health Security and Pandemics as part of its inaugural cohort of Global Heroes. This exemplar leader will take part in both the MIT Solver program and the Elevate Prize Global Heroes program, receiving a minimum of US$300,000 spread over two years as well as ongoing support from The Elevate Prize Foundation and MIT Solve.
- The applicant should be the primary delegate for their organization. If selected as a finalist, this person will be invited to present their work during The Elevate Prize Awards in New York City, and if selected as a Global Hero, they will be the lead participant throughout the program.
Please note:
- Submissions must be written in English.
- Individual applicants must be at least 18 years old.
- Individual applicants must be affiliated with a legally established entity (formed either under U.S. law or under the laws of the country of their residence).
- Directors and officers of The Elevate Prize Foundation, Inc., members of the Judging Panel, and such individuals’ family members (spouse, ancestors, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and spouses of children grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) are not eligible for The Elevate Prize.
- Applicants interested in The Elevate Prize for Solve’s Health Security and Pandemics Challenge should apply only to the Health Security and Pandemics Challenge.
For more information, visit https://elevateprize.org/