Rise Calls for Entry into Global Rise Community

Vanessa Obioha

Rise, an educational initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, has announced a call for entry for the third edition of Rise Global Challenge. 

Supported by Eric and Wendy Schmidt through a $1 billion philanthropic commitment, the Rise Global Challenge supports innovative minds between the ages of 15 and 17 (as of July 1, 2023)seeking to serve global communities through idea creation. 

Collated entries will be shortlisted to 500 applicants who will be invited for the ‘Finalist Day’, where they will demonstrate their motivations, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork skills in an innovative interview format.

All Rise Global Winners will receive the following benefits upon selection: A fully funded, three-week residential summit; access to the Rise Global Winners; higher education scholarship and more. 

A lifelong scholarship as it terms the program, winners of the 2023 edition will gain continuous access to all its resources. 

Since its inception, Rise has welcomed over 150,000 people from over 170 countries to its community. So far, 200 winners have been selected from 69 countries, with 11 Nigerian winners. 

Over that period, the program has been able to highlight vital issues such as making education more accessible, fostering ideas mitigating global warming, and developing tools to better detect cancer. 

Collectively, all 11 Nigerian Rise Global Winners have been able to kick-start several projects, some of which include starting up international NGOs to educate the public on solving pressing social issues such as gender inequality, developing teaching assistant programs, building robotics to automate tasks, and increasing STEM opportunities for Nigerian girls to mention a few. 

Understanding that opportunities are scarce for talented individuals globally, the global initiative has entered into strategic partnerships with over 30 organisations including African Leadership Academy, HALI Network, BUILD Nigeria, and NBA Africa to scout for these talents seeking to leave an impact. 

“Eric and I have been impressed by the optimism, initiative and curiosity of the young people in the growing Rise community,” said co-founder of Schmidt Futures, Wendy Schmidt. “We are excited to continue expanding this network with the 2023 cohort and can’t wait to see what these talented teens can accomplish when they work together in service for others.”

“BUILD Nigeria is thrilled to continue growing our partnership with Rise in Nigeria as we work together to find and support the next generation of young problem-solvers looking to build a better world,” said Co-Founder of Build Nigeria, Tolulope Olasewere. 

Over the next two weeks, Rise will feature an integrated digital campaign showcasing the diverse brilliance of Rise Global Winners and inviting more to join the community. The activation will involve celebrating two years and 200 Global Winners across two iconic locations — Times Square in New York and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. 

Online applications armre available until January 25, 2023.