Over the years I’ve encouraged you to read various pieces on other websites, attend meetings, write letters, even make monetary donations for a good cause. Today I’d like to suggest that you eat dinner in front of your television. Well, laptop or tablet device, actually.
Tonight, from 6 to 7:30 pm, you can join the Horizon Foundation, the United Way of Central Maryland, the Women’s Giving Circle, the Community Foundation of Howard County, and a whooooooole bunch of your neighbors for the 2021 edition of the Changemaker Challenge.
The Horizon Foundation, United Way of Central Maryland, Women’s Giving Circle and Community Foundation of Howard County are igniting and recognizing new and continued innovation in our community with the Changemaker Challenge. Think “Shark Tank” for social change! This biennial event awards funding for project ideas that promise to make a difference in Howard County, especially after an unprecedented 2020. That’s why our theme for the 2021 Changemaker Challenge is – Innovate. Cultivate. Uplift.
If you are curious about the concepts you’ll be seeing tonight, here’s the rundown of the finalists from Changemaker Challenge website:
The 3rd – Create a space in downtown Columbia that brings the community together. The space melds live/work elements all in one space and is run by, supplied by and incubates women of color entrepreneurs.
4Girls2STEM – Launch a STEM program for girls of color in Howard County.
Alston for Athletes – Provide Youth Mental Health First Aid Training to athletic directors, coaches and trainers in Howard County.
The Community Ecology Institute – Create a Nourishing Gardens initiative that will transform lawns throughout Howard County into ecologically beneficial food growing spaces. The program will offer job skills training and work opportunities, increase the local supply of fresh, healthy produce and seek to get it to those in greatest need, improve the ecosystem and provide community engagement and education opportunities.
Howard County Lynching Truth & Reconciliation, Inc. – Create an interactive, web based platform to assist with educating the community about our history, which impacts us all today.
HoCo Pirate Adventures, Inc. – Eliminate economic and transportation barriers by creating a free app that will guide residents on pirate-themed scavenger hunts in parks throughout Howard County. Hunts are targeted to kids and families and are intended to have a positive impact on the mental and physical health of families.
Oakland Mills Online – Introduce students to the lived experiences and career paths of their community members through an in-school Speaker Series (starting at Oakland Mills High School) that connects today’s leaders with tomorrow’s leaders.
Kits to Heart – Improve the mental and emotional well-being of those affected by cancer through an innovative art therapy program by partnering with the Howard County Arts Council to offer free art classes and workshops for the cancer community.
Upcycled, Inc. – Upgrade the recycling center to simplify the “Upcycling” process and facilitate an interactive educational area.
Howard County Autism Society – Support the Autism Hiring Program, an innovation that advances workplace neurodiversity and acceptance, connecting businesses to an untapped workforce and targeting jobseekers not supported by existing systems.
You can see them make their pitches tonight from 6-7:30. But that’s not all. Viewers will have a chance to vote on their favorite idea and the audience choice winner will receive $10,000 to help jumpstart their changemaking idea. We may have become blasé about commercially packaged television shows that encourage viewers to text in their favorites. But this event, while using a similar concept, is effectively giving participants the opportunity to fund a project that will help their own community.
I find it rather mind-blowing. And the fact that I can do it virtually is a big plus.
Overall, the prizes that will be awarded this evening break down like this: one $25,000 grant, one $15,000 grant, and two $10,000 grants. One of the $10,000 grants will be awarded to an entry for a project created by or serving women and/or girls in Howard County, and the other $10,000 grant will be awarded based on audience choice.
So register here. It’s free. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about some really big ideas for our community, not to mention your moment to be a $10,000 philanthropist by voting for the audience choice award. Your “being there” could very well make a difference for a big idea to become reality.
And maybe tonight will inspire you to come up with a changemaking idea of your own.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.