Voto Latino $500,000 Competition Open to Millennials
Millennials with innovative technological ideas for improving the lives of and expanding educational opportunities for the Latino community are being sought for a national competition that is awarding $500,000 in grants.
The Voto Latino Innovators Challenge, open to 18 to 34 year olds, seeks to fund projects that create digital solutions to challenges impacting Latinos today. The contest is part of the connected learning movement, a 21st century educational approach that takes advantage of today’s abundance of digital information and social connection and makes learning relevant to everyone.
“The VL Innovators Challenge is an investment in a rising generation of Latino Millennials who are more than just consumers of technology; they are creators, they are makers,” said María Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino, a nonprofit organization that empowers Latino millennials to create positive change in their communities.
Ten to 15 projects will be selected for grants. Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and administered by HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory), the competition deadline is Sept. 10. Applications must be submitted at VLInnovators.com.
“This challenge helps address pressing needs in our society, seeking to enable equity, to support and expand the pool of young Latino digital innovators, and to address pressing challenges faced by Latino communities across the country,” said David Theo Goldberg, co-founder of HASTAC and director of the University of California Humanities Research Institute at UC Irvine. “Latinos constitute a larger and larger proportion of American society, and face extended challenges socially, economically, and educationally. The MacArthur Foundation, Voto Latino, and HASTAC are coming together to support the surfacing of creative ways to address these challenges using digital media while mapping how these innovations enable learning for all.”
Challenge winners will be announced at Voto Latino’s 10-year anniversary gala in November.
— Mimi Ko Cruz
Banner image credit: Voto Latino
Related:
Voto Latino Innovators Challenge Press Release
VL Innovators Challenge Video
VL Innovators Challenge Website
Voto Latino on Facebook
Voto Latino on Twitter