The expertise is already in the building.
Most efforts to fix community problems are designed by people who don’t live in those communities. You do. You’ve seen which interventions stick and which ones get politely ignored. We want your idea — not a sanitized version of it. The thing you’d actually do if you had the time and the funding.
An intervention that’d work for the students in front of you tomorrow.
A change that’d ripple beyond one classroom — a culture shift, a system fix, a new offering.
Something that pulls families and neighbors in. The kind of idea that only works because you know the place.
You tell us what you need. We respond in 3 business days.
Submit any day during the window. Your entry includes a short budget — between $100 and $5,000 — for what it’ll take to start. A yes funds the amount you asked for, paid directly to you. The acceptance letter spells out the specific objectives that unlock the next tier.
You tell us what it'd take to start. We say yes or no within 3 business days. A yes pays the amount you asked for — supplies, stipend for your time, an honorarium for a collaborator. You decide the line items.
Evidence the idea ran in the real world: people served, milestones hit, learning surfaced. Verified objectives unlock up to $10,000 more for the same project.
Tip: Ask for what you actually need. Reviewers don’t penalize bigger asks — they penalize vague budgets. A specific $4,200 ask beats a hand-wavy $1,000 ask.
One short video. That’s it.
We’re not asking for a grant proposal. A 1–2 minute video of you explaining your idea — what, why, who, and what you’d do first — is the submission. We give you a browser recorder. You can re-record as many times as you want; only your chosen take counts.
The whole point is to lower the activation energy. The teachers we most want to hear from are the ones with the least time to spare for paperwork.
The things you’d want to know first.
About 45 minutes to draft and submit. Yes-or-no review within 3 business days. If accepted, the work is whatever your idea actually requires — no required meetings, no required programming.
Yes. Co-teachers are welcome to submit jointly — one entry per team. The prize is paid to a designated lead.
To submit, no. To run your idea inside school facilities, that depends on what you're doing — we can help you think it through after acceptance.
A 1–2 minute video, recorded in your browser. No editing, no slides, no script required.
All of the above. If you teach in North Carolina, you can submit.
Direct deposit or check to you. Above $600, we'll need a W-9. The IRS gets a 1099 — we handle the paperwork.
Submissions open June 15, 2026 and close October 15, 2026. Submit any day in that window. Yes-or-no in 3 business days.
Often yes. Many teacher ideas evolve into formal pilots — exactly the kind of objective unlock the second tier rewards.
Same rubric as the student track.
We’re looking for the same four things — but as a teacher, your evidence for each will look different from a 12-year-old’s. That’s expected.
A problem you’ve seen firsthand — in your classroom, your hallway, your district. Specifics beat abstractions.
An angle the standard playbook would miss. The thing you’ve thought but couldn’t get funded through the usual channels.
What have you already done — even small? A meeting taken, a draft drafted, a phone call made. Initiative compounds.
Why does this matter to you, specifically? Who in your life is this for? Specific beats abstract every time.
You’ve been carrying this idea around. Put it to work.
45 minutes to draft. 3 business days to an answer. $1,000 on yes. Up to $10,000 more if you ship. No application fee. No grant proposal. No cohort to wait for.