2017 Innovation Prize

Posted by J.M. Kaplan Fund on February 6, 2017

Kaplan Fund Invites Applications for 2017 Innovation Prize

The J.M. Kaplan Fund is accepting first-round applications for its 2017 J.M.K. Innovation Prize.

Through the biannual program, the foundation will award up to ten prizes to individuals or teams in the U.S. working to address a pressing need through social sector innovation. The prize will provide up to three years of support at $50,000 per year, as well as a $25,000 “bank” of funds available for technical assistance or targeted project expenses, for interdisciplinary innovation in the fields of cultural heritage, human rights, the built environment, and the natural environment.

The prize is designed to support high-risk, early-stage ideas that represent a game-changing answer to a clearly identified need; demonstrate an interdisciplinary or hybridized approach, ideally involving at least two of the four areas of interest to the fund; demonstrate the potential to develop an actionable pilot or prototype with prize funding; show potential to scale impact beyond the initial pilot or prototype; and hold out the promise to benefit multiple individuals, communities, or sectors through a clearly articulated theory of change.

First-round applications must be received by the foundation no later than April 28, 2017. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit follow-up applications, a review of which will take place over the summer. Finalists will be flown to New York City in the fall to present their ideas to the trustees of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and the prize recipients will be publicly announced in November 2017.

See the Kaplan Fund website for complete program guidelines and application procedures.

DEADLINE: APRIL 28, 2017 (FIRST-ROUND APPLICATIONS)

http://www.jmkfund.org/introduction2017-j-m-k-innovation-prize/