DEADLINE: 22 DECEMBER 2021
Rise is a program that finds brilliant people who need opportunity and supports them for life as they work to serve others. The program starts at ages 15–17 and offers access to benefits that last a lifetime including scholarships, mentorship, access to career development opportunities, funding, and more as Global Winners work toward solving humanity’s most pressing problems. An initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Rise is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent.
WHY 15 - 17 YEAR OLDS
Research shows that there are thousands, if not millions, of brilliant people around the world who could have made a large impact had they been discovered and supported earlier in life.
Research also shows that the networks and information young people encounter in the final years of secondary school—before college or entering the workforce—are critical to shaping the direction of their lives. At this time in life, young people are full of creative ideas, unhindered by the reasons something can’t be done, and more willing to work collaboratively.
The world’s challenges are also bigger and more complex than ever. Today’s generation of young people confront climate change; lack of access to healthy food and safe water; educational setbacks due to COVID-19; and racial, gender, and other inequality. At the same time, we have better tools than ever to solve these problems. We need a new generation of leaders that can deal with the growing complexity of the world—and that can use the power of new tools and technologies to solve our greatest challenges.
Rise believes that they can find exceptional people at this critical moment in their lives and empower them to build a better world. But we don’t just give them support once—we offer it over time, throughout their careers
WHAT MAKES RISE DIFFERENT
Rise is for life. RISE offers benefits that last a lifetime, making this one of the largest award programs for individuals in the world.
Rise is a global community. RISE connects talent from over 170 countries, with inaugural Global Winners hailing from 42 countries across 6 continents.
Rise looks for brilliance. RISE looks for hidden brilliance, in whatever form it takes, wherever it is in the world. From high school classrooms, to refugee camps, to science fairs, we believe that brilliance is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. We’re on a mission to change the odds for the world’s most brilliant people from a young age and throughout their lives.
ELIGIBILITY
Rise Global Winners hail from around the world and demonstrate brilliance in a range of disciplines. Some may excel in STEM fields, others may show outstanding artistic ability, and others may have a gift for community service and organizing.
All Rise Global Winners demonstrate the five Rise Traits:
Brilliance
Perseverance
Integrity
Empathy
Calling
BENEFITS
Everyone who applies joins a global community of leaders and gains access to free online courses and opportunities from our partners around the world.
Finalists participate in educational and leadership courses, as an award from Rise, to level up their skills and grow their networks. They also gain access to additional funding opportunities to experiment with innovative ideas to solve our hardest challenges.
100 Global Winners receive benefits for life to help them scale their impact. These benefits include a needs-based college scholarship, invitation to a Residential Summit, and mentorship and career services, and could also include graduate scholarships and funding to start a social enterprise, depending on the quality of idea and need for support as they work to serve others.
Benefits for Rise Global Winners take many shapes. The program is personalized and flexible, tailored to Global Winners’ needs as they evolve over time. We aim to provide Global Winners with individualized support to empower them to achieve their goals while they work to serve others throughout their lives.
All Rise Global Winners receive access to the following benefits and participate in the following programs upon selection:
Residential Summit: An invitation to attend a fully-funded, three-week residential summit with other members of the Rise Global Winner cohort—to be held in a rotating location globally for each new cohort—as well as to join network events in subsequent years.
Mentorship & Career Services: Mentors paired with each Global Winner to provide personal, academic, or professional guidance, and specialized career services for internships and jobs to be developed from 2022.
Programming: Access to specialized programs, courses, and fellowship opportunities through Rise partners. The Winners’ anchor program in 2021/22 is a Human Centered Design course designed for the Rise Winners by DC Design. Online courses are delivered on a specially designed learning platform being developed with High Resolves.
Global Winner Network: Access to a network of other Global Winners across cohorts to connect on common interests, make service commitments, launch enterprises, and collaborate together.
Higher Education Scholarships: A four-year, post-secondary scholarship at any accredited university, including tuition and a living stipend, based on need and where not already covered by financial aid.
Technology: Technology packages, such as laptops or tablets, to be determined each year.
In addition, all Rise Global Winners will have the opportunity to apply for the following benefits over their lifetime:
Partner Network: Opportunity to be matched to programs, secondary school scholarships, internships, and other benefits from partners who are part of the Rise network.
Funding Opportunities: Opportunity to apply for funding to experiment with innovative ideas to address major problems in local communities or around the world—ranging from seed money to start a social enterprise to a grant for a non-profit. Funds will be designated for these purposes in a total pooled amount of at least $5 million per year of the program.
Education Support: Opportunity to apply for scholarship funds for a graduate degree.
HOW TO APPLY
If you are unable to access the application app because your device is not compatible or you have limited data, you can use Rise’s web-browser application. That option can be accessed here: https://apply.risefortheworld.org/
Rise is also distributing paper applications on an as-needed basis. Please contact us at paperapp@risefortheworld.org to inquire about this option.