She Will Innovate Competition: Technology Solutions Enriching the Lives of Girls
Competition News
Intel Corporation and Ashoka Changemakers are launching this online competition to find the world's most innovative solutions that equip girls and women with new digital technologies—enabling them to live healthier, smarter, and more meaningful lives.
Submit your solutions, or nominate a project, to empower women around the world. The final competition deadline is August 15, 2012.
Three winners will each receive a cash prize of US $10,000.
Join us in congratulating our Early Entry Prize winners:
Guidelines and Criteria
Who should enter:
The competition is open to solutions from around the world, with special consideration for innovations developed for women by women aged 18 to 34. We can only accept your entry in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French.
Intel employees are not eligible.
Why you should enter:
- Join Ashoka Changemakers’ global online community that supports the impact you are making on the ground.
- Gain visibility with our community and our competition partner, Intel Corporation.
- A chance to win!
What you can win:
- One of three US$10,000 cash prizes in unrestricted funding to boost your project.
- One of two US$500 cash prizes (if you enter before July 18, 2012).
How to enter:
- Take a look at this video or read these step-by-step instructions.
- Read these tips about how to make your entry stand out.
Read all the fine print below to learn more about how you can win.
Competition Guidelines
The competition is open to all types of individuals, organizations, and collaborations from all countries as long as solutions apply directly to bettering the lives of women through information and communication technologies. We consider all entries that:
- Reflect the theme of the competition: She Will Innovate: Technology Solutions Enriching the Lives of Girls.
- Identify innovations that accelerate women’s socio-economic progress by empowering them with digital solutions to improve women’s health, education, and well-being.
- Indicate growth beyond the conceptual stage and have demonstrated impact and sustainability. We support new ideas at every stage and encourage their entry. The judges are better able to evaluate programs that are beyond the conceptual stage and have demonstrated a proof of impact.
- Are submitted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French.
Please complete the entry form in its entirety and submit by August 15, 2012.
Assessment Criteria
Winners of the She Will Innovate: Technology Solutions Enriching the Lives of Girls competition will be those that best meet the following criteria:
Innovation: This is the knock-out test; if the work is not innovative, the judges will not give it a high ranking. The entrant must describe a systemic or disruptive innovation with the potential to give women access to income-generating opportunities, health care, or education through digital technologies. The best entries will be those that demonstrate a substantial difference from other initiatives in the field and have the possibility for large-scale, global replication.
Social Impact: It is important that the competition entry provides a system-changing solution for the issue it addresses. Some entries will have proven successes at the local level, while others may have already engaged millions of people across the country. Initiatives must maximize the opportunity for collaboration in engaging women, their families, and their communities with tech innovations. The best solutions will have demonstrated impact, as well as the potential for scaling-up and replication.
Sustainability: The proposals must have a clear outline for reaching long-term goals and securing financial backing—entries should describe not only how they currently finance their work, but also how they plan to finance it in the future. They should also have a realistic time frame for implementation. Proposals should highlight the support they have received from both the public and private sectors.
Competition Deadlines, Procedures, and Rules
Online competition submissions are accepted until August 15, 2012. At any time before this deadline, competition participants are encouraged to revise their entries based on questions and insights that they receive through the Changemakers online discussion. Participation in the conversation enhances an entrant’s prospects in the competition and provides the community and the judges with an opportunity to understand the entrant’s project more completely.
There are five main phases in the competition:
- Entry Stage: Beginning June 6, 2012, entries can be submitted until 5 p.m. EST on August 15, 2012, and throughout this stage anyone can participate in an online review discussion with the entrants.
- Early Entry Deadline, July 18, 2012: Entries received by 5 p.m. EST on July 18, 2012 are eligible for the Early Entry prize.
- Entry Deadline: August 15, 2012, 5 p.m. EST
- Online Review and Finalist Selection, August 15 – October 17, 2012: Online review and discussion continues. Simultaneously, a team of Ashoka staff and shortlisters, followed by a panel of expert judges, nominate the 10-15 best and most innovative entries as finalists.
- Voting and Winners Selection, October 17 – November 7, 2012: The Changmakers community votes online to select three winners from the field of finalists
- Winners Announced, November 14, 2012: The Changemakers competition winners—the finalist individuals, organizations, or partnerships selected by the Changemakers online community—will each receive a cash prize of US $10,000.
Prizes
Early Entry Prize:
Early entries received by July 18, 2012 will be eligible to win one of two cash prizes of US $500. Being an Early Entry Prize winner does not preclude you from winning the competition in any way, nor guarantee finalist status. All entries will be evaluated on an equal basis at the completion of the entry period according to the Changemakers criteria.
Winners:
Three winners, as selected by the Ashoka Changemakers online community to best exemplify the competition assessment criteria from the pool of finalists, will each receive a cash prize of US $10,000.
She Will Innovate Idea Award:
$5000 awarded to the most innovative early stage initiative that shows great potential for social impact and sustainability.
Winners will be announced November 14, 2012.
Participation in the competition provides the opportunity to receive feedback about your solution from fellow entrants, Changemakers staff, judges, expert commentators, and the Changemakers community. Showcasing your market-based solution, and the challenges involved in creating social impact through community engagement, advises potential investors about how best to maximize the strategic impact of their future investments.
Disclaimer—Compliance with Legal Restrictions
Ashoka complies fully with all U.S. laws and regulations, including Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations, export control, and anti-money laundering laws. Any grants will be awarded subject to compliance with such laws. Ashoka will not make any grant if it finds that to do so would be unlawful. This may prohibit awards in certain countries and/or to certain individuals or entities. All recipients will comply with these laws to the extent they are applicable to such recipients. No recipient will take any action that would cause Ashoka to violate any laws. Additionally, Ashoka will not make any grant to a company involved in the promotion of tobacco use.
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