Application Deadline: July 1st 2015
What: 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.
Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World is a joint initiative from the Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard, to help young change-makers create a better world for women and girls in Asia and the Pacific.
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.
With a US$25,000 Grand Prize and US$10,000 Runner-Up Prize on offer to make their idea a reality, Project Inspire 2015 will take on the theme of ‘Technology or Design for Economic Empowerment’. Applicants will be asked to demonstrate how they use design or technology as a tool in the work they are doing to enable and empower women economically throughout Asia, the Pacific, Middle East & Africa.
The Project
Project Inspire presents participants with a 5-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea relating to a project to empower women through entrepreneurship and business literacy, and win a US$25,000 grant.
- The project must show creativity and demonstrate the potential to make a sustainable impact on the empowerment of women. To qualify, the project must meet the following requirements:
- 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 Participants
- The competition is open to both males and females.
- 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.
Grand Prize
The grand prize winner will receive a US$25,000 grant to implement their project.
Runner-up
The runner-up will receive a US$10,000 grant each to implement their project.
People’s Choice
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.
Ten finalists will each receive
- 1 return flight from the finalist’s capital city to Singapore, to participate in the grand final.
- 1 ticket to the Project Inspire Grand Final on November, 13 2015.
- 4 nights accommodation in Singapore, plus meals and transfers.
- Exclusive INSEAD and Bain & Company workshops, plus one-on-one mentoring.
Timeline:
- Application Starts: February 25 2015
- Application Deadline: July 1st 2015
- Top 20 Semi-Finalists are announced: August 30 2015
- Crowdfunding Begins: September 15 2015
- Finalists Announced: September 30 2015
- Wildcard Ticket Announced: October 15 2015
- Finalist Bootcamp: November 11 2015
- Grand Final Pith Day: November 13 2015
Apply Now for the 2015 Project Inspire 2015
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