In 2014, Forbes Inc. held the first Under 30 Summit, an annual gathering that brought together many of America's most important young entrepreneurs and game changers. And this year, for their second-annual summit, they have decided to make things even more interesting with an incentive competition. Known as the Forbes Under 30 $1 Million Change the World Competition, this challenge will award up to $1 million USD to social entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who can offer disruptive, scalable ideas that address global problems.
From all the submission made between now and August 26th (11:59PM Eastern Time), five or six finalists will be selected and awarded prizes of $100,000 to help accelerate their efforts. They will also have the privilege of presenting their submissions at the Under 30 Summit - which will be held in Philadelphia on October 5th and 6th. Once the summit is complete, an overall winner will be selected to receive the grand prize of $400,000, thus bringing their total winnings up to at least $500,000.
Equally exciting as the prospect of winning this competition is the fact that each finalist will have the chance to present their ideas to an audience of 2,000 of the world’s best young minds, all of whom have been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the past. In what will be the largest-ever competition for young social entrepreneurs, these innovators will be amongst their peers and equals, sharing their vision of how to make the world a better place.
Randall Lane presents Malala Yousafzai with the first-ever "30 Under 30 Doers Award" at the 2014 Forbes Under 30 Summit. Credit: Glen Davis/Forbes
Forbes also announced this past June that this year's competition will expand on last year's summit even further by featuring additional presentations and special events. This will include a full agenda of panels, TED-style presentations, keynote speakers, and mentorship from successful business leaders.
The first round of keynote speakers will include former boxer and actor Mike Tyson, You Tube makeup star and entrepreneur Michelle Phan, Barbara Bush of Global Health Corps, Datto founder Austin McChord, Dannijo founder Danielle Snyder, singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and Half.com founder Josh Kopelman. More speakers are expected to be announced through September in the lead-up to the event.
As Randall Lane, editor of Forbes magazine, put it, “The Under 30 Summit has quickly become the world’s preeminent event for young entrepreneurs and game-changers. This year’s event will be bigger and better in every way, and will help chart the world’s course over the next half-century.”
A number of other events are planned, which include a Under 30 Music Festival and a Under 30 Food Festival. But with a focus on scalable solutions to the problems of education, extreme poverty, sustainability, global health and other social problems, the Change the World competition is likely to be one of the biggest highlights. Not only will it feature new ideas for addressing modern problems, these ideas may very well be adopted in the coming years and go on to shape policy and decision-making around the world.
Are you a social entrepreneur who has an idea that could change the world? Click here to enter the challenge and be prepared to win up to $500,000 in prizes!
Top Image Credit: Eric Pook
