Deadline: July 1, 2015
Are you a young changemaker? Do you have an idea that can change the world? Project Inspire is providing you a 5-minute platform to pitch your inspired idea to the world and win a US$25,000 grant. The UN Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World is a global social impact competition to help young changemakers create a better world for women and girls in Africa, Asia Pacific and Middle East.
Launched in 2011, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day and the 25th anniversary of MasterCard Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Project Inspire presents 18-35 year olds with a five-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea, for the chance to win a US$25,000 grant. It is a joint initiative from the Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard.
Prizes
Each finalist receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Singapore, where they are paired with a mentor and participate in a week-long social business boot camp, that includes workshops run by Bain & Company and INSEAD. The week culminates in the Project Inspire grand final on Friday, 13th November, 2015, where a winner will be chosen by an esteemed panel of judges.
- Grand Prize: Thanks to MasterCard, the grant prize winner will walk away with US$25,000.
- Runner Up: Thanks to Hilton WorldWide, the runner-up winner will walk away with US$10,000.
- People’s Choice: Top Problem Solvers will go home with funds given to them by their supporters. Now everybody is a winner!
This year, Project Inspire will choose twenty semi-finalists to progress to a crowd-funding stage of the competition. From the semi-finalists, finalists will be chosen to attend the Grand Finals in Singapore where they will pitch their inspired idea to a panel of judges. The remaining semi-finalists stand a chance of winning a wild-card ticket to pitch their inspired idea at the Grand Finals in Singapore by securing the most amount of supporters during the crowd-funding stage of the competition.
Eligibility and Requirements
- This competition is open to both individuals (males and females) and groups from anywhere in the world.
- Participants may submit entries as an individual or as a team of up to three members.
- If submitting as an individual, you must be between the ages of 18-35. You will be considered as the team leader for the purpose of this competition.
- If submitting as a team, at least one member of the team must be between the ages of 18-35. A team leader must be chosen and will be between the ages of 18-35.
- The team leader will travel to Singapore to represent your project in the finals. The team leader must attend the entire duration of the finals.
Project
- The project must be designed to empower disadvantaged women and girls through entrepreneurship and business literacy.
- The project must be based on an existing initiative.
- The beneficiaries of the project must be women or girls in Asia/Pacific, Middle East or Africa.
- The proposed project must not propagate any political views or religious doctrines.
- The project must be designed to be implemented with a budget of US$25,000.
- The winner of this competition must commence the fieldwork for their project by 1 February 2016.
Judging Criteria
The panel of judges will evaluate the creativity, efficacy, impact and sustainability each project demonstrates. Entries will be judged based on the following criteria:
Project
- Overall quality
- Business model
- Implementation
- Budgeting
- Impact
- Measurement
- Sustainability
Team
- Leadership
- Experience
- Resource magnetism
Are you ready to be the next social innovator? Take the challenge now with UN Project Inspire!
For more information, visit Project Inspire 2015.
