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The Paradigm Challenge is an annual competition that inspires youth aged 4 to 18 around the world to use kindness, creativity, and collaboration to make a difference.
Project Paradigm, a private foundation headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
The Paradigm Challenge is an ongoing student competition with new Challenge Projects announced every two years.
We love that you are thinking about the next Challenge Project already, but the details will remain a secret for now. We will announce next Challenge Project on or about May 2, 2021. If you have any ideas that you would like us to consider for future Challenges, please contact us.
We think participating in The Paradigm Challenge is a great community service learning project. We have heard that many teachers agree and plan to use The Challenge as a classroom service project. Please talk to your own teacher about The Challenge. You or your teacher can contact us with any questions.
Participants must be aged 4 to 18 as of the date an entry is submitted.
Currently, The Challenge and The Public Voting Contests are open to all youth age 4 to 18 who are NOT residents of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, the Crimea Region, or any other United States sanctioned country.
We love collaboration and the goal is to come up with new ideas to help address the Challenge Projects. If you need help along the way, you are free to collaborate with anyone you wish. That said, we designed this as a youth competition because we believe in the power of youth to help address these important social problems.
This is entirely up to you and your team. There is no minimum or maximum team size. While we encourage each participant to join a team and collaborate with other youth, single person teams are permitted.
After you sign up for the Challenge, visit the DASHBOARD page and click the BUILD button. This will take you to the BUILD & MANAGE A TEAM page and you can enter the first name, last initial, and email address of who you want to add to your team.
All added teammates will be automatically included on your entry form when you are ready to submit your idea. If you or any of your team members are not automatically listed at the top of the entry form, you will have an opportunity to add team members when you fill out the entry form.
Yes, the team leader can visit the BUILD & MANAGE A TEAM page and then click the pencil next to the team member’s name. Click edit and then click delete.
Anything that might help. We expect that participants will submit all kinds of ideas, including posters, videos, inventions, public messages, community events, websites, and mobile apps, but there are no limitations. Use your imagination.
Watch our video on “How to Solve Problems and Change the World” to learn the six steps to solve any challenge. If you and your team follow the six steps in the video, we are confident that you will start to come up with ideas.
Each entry must contain the following information: (1) team name (even if participating alone); (2) team member information, including each member's first name, last initial, month and year of birth, and email (if any team members are under 13 years old, the email of a parent or guardian for each member under 13 must be provided); (3) brief statement of idea (140 characters or less); (4) category of idea; (5) explanation of idea; and (6) responses to questions regarding the team’s participation in The Challenge. Each entry may (but is not required to) include uploaded files and/or links to shared videos.
It is up to you to decide how far to develop your idea. We anticipate that some teams will submit just the description of an idea, some will submit a sketch or drawing, some may build a prototype, and others may make a fully working unit. It is entirely up to you. If you make a sketch and your idea is better than a team that produces a prototype of its idea, you are likely to score higher overall. On the other hand, if two teams come up with basically the same idea, the team that develops the idea further is likely to score higher overall.
May 1, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
No. Some innovation challenges are designed to generate ideas for corporate profit. Not this one. The ownership of the submitted ideas is not transferred to Project Paradigm or any of our partners. The only rights granted to us relate to the ability to use information regarding the ideas and the teams to run and promote The Challenge and other activities of Project Paradigm and our partners. For more details, check out the Rules.
Project Paradigm wants to help implement the best ideas. In addition to the prize money, Project Paradigm may decide to provide additional support to one or more teams to facilitate the development and/or implementation of one or more ideas. Among other things, Project Paradigm may (1) provide funds for legal advice regarding potential patent, trademark, and or copyright protection, (2) attempt to make or facilitate introductions to manufacturers, organizations, and/or other persons or entities, (3) collaborate directly with team members, and/or (4) promote one or more winning ideas on the Site.
Eligible entries could become Finalists at any time during the current Challenge. All Finalists will be publicly announced June 2022.
First Place and Grand Prize winners will be announced August 2023.
Prizes will be awarded on an ongoing basis to eligible Finalists. The Grand Prize and First, Second, and Third Place prizes will be awarded August 2023.
Project Paradigm will select the top 100 entries (“Finalists”) based on the following criteria:
Efficacy: how effective is the idea?
Feasibility: how possible is the idea?
Originality: how innovative is the idea?
Presentation: how clear is the idea?
Collaboration: how well did the team members work together with each other and with other persons. For single member teams, the collaboration criteria will be based solely on collaboration with non-team members.
Each of the top 100 Finalists will be further reviewed (based on the same criteria) by judges designated by Sponsor. Based on the initial and further reviews, Project Paradigm will select a First Place, Second Place, and Third Place winner in each of the three age divisions.
The Paradigm Challenge Prize Ceremony is an invitation-only black-tie event. If you would like to attend, please send an email to info@projectparadigm.org and tell us in 250 words or less why you would like to attend the Ceremony, and we might invite you!
Project Paradigm mentors are individuals that can help you refine your ideas for The Paradigm Challenge. Project Paradigm mentors include Project Paradigm leadership and subject-matter experts. You must submit an entry to receive feedback from Project Paradigm mentors. You are not required to accept mentorship or participate in the Paradigm Challenge Mentorship Program.