MacArthur Foundation’s “100&Change” competition now calling for applications

100&Change is a MacArthur Foundation competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that will make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem. 100&Change will select a bold proposal that promises real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. And it will award a $100 million grant to help make that solution a reality. Proposals focused on any critical issue are welcome.

Experientia president Michele Visciòla is one of the judges in the Wise Head Panel who will select which project is worthy of the $100 million grant.

No single field or problem area is designated; proposals from any sector are encouraged. They should articulate both the problem and the proposed solution and must have a charitable purpose. Competitive proposals will be impactful, evidence-based, feasible, and durable.

The competition opened on April 30, 2019, and registration closes on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. Central. Applications will be accepted through 11:00 a.m. Central on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. The Top 100 will be selected in February 2020 and Finalists in the spring of 2020. During the spring and summer of 2020, finalists will work with an expert team to strengthen their proposals, present a preliminary plan for monitoring and evaluation and learning, and show authentic engagement with communities of interest before submitting revised project plans. MacArthur’s Board of Directors will select the final award recipient in the fall of 2020.

Once the application period closes, MacArthur staff will work to review each 100&Change submission to ensure it meets the requirements and rules before advancing to the next stage. During the Peer-to-Peer review process, applicants within the same domain will score and provide feedback to each other’s proposals using our established criteria. The Wise Head Panel of external judges will then review and score submissions using the same criteria and trait scoring rubric. Based on those reviews, top scoring applicants will receive domain specific technical reviews in which proposals will be assigned to a technical reviewer with expertise in the field of the proposed project.