Deadline: 21-Jul-23
The Global Business Coalition for Education is excited to launch its second call for the Big Ideas, Bright Cities Challenge.
This is a call to action for city leaders, youth-serving organizations, higher education institutions, and businesses to come together to develop bold, innovative ideas that equip young people with the skills they need for tomorrow’s workforce and address the and address the Ten Standards for a Skills-Friendly City.
GBC-Education’s Big Ideas, Bright Cities Challenge helps solve an urgent problem: in the US, four million youth are not in school or employed. Millions more young people are underemployed.
Standards for a Skills Friendly City
- The Skills Friendly City initiative outlines ten standards needed to create a “skills friendly” city, including critical activities and indicators of success that lead to a better-prepared generation of youth ready to enter the workforce.
- Direct engagement with young people.
- A focus on underserved youth.
- Inclusive and equitable, quality education systems. Local education systems are equitable, accessible, and sufficiently resourced.
- Pathways from education to employment.
- Curriculum adapted to future workforce skills.
- Employer engagement in building opportunity pipelines.
- Meaningful and equitable employment.
- Youth-focused funding partnerships.
- Supportive ecosystem.
- Dedicated platform for opportunity dissemination and matchmaking.
Award Details
- Fifteen (15) winners with the most impactful ideas to make their cities and communities more “skills friendly” and support youth skills development will be awarded grants of up to 100.000 USD, in-kind business support to grow their projects and join the renowned Skills Friendly Cities Community Incubator Program to learn from experts in youth development and education, business leaders and peers from like-minded organizations.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nonprofit organizations collaborating with cities (metro areas, county seats, large and small) are invited to apply. Applications must be submitted by a nonprofit organization with a registered 501(c)(3) status in good standing. Preference will be given to partnerships that involve government, youth-serving non-profits, education institutions, and businesses.
Details
- The winners will be selected by a panel of judges that includes business representatives from the Global Business Coalition for Education, non-profits, youth leaders, and experts in education and workforce development. The judges will be announced in June 2023.
- Finalists for the Big Ideas, Bright Cities challenge will be announced in Early August, and the winner will be announced in September 2023.
For more information, visit GBC-Education.